Secondary Education

I

Introduction

Secondary Education, programme of public education immediately following primary schooling. It generally begins between the ages of 11 and 14 and continues for four to seven years. Secondary schooling involves academic study and, for some, an element of vocational education. Some countries, including England and Wales, follow a national curriculum that sets out the basic programme of study in a number of compulsory subjects.

II

History

Today’s UK secondary education system was shaped by the 1944 Education Act, which established a system of full-time, state-funded education for all. Schools owned by the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches were brought together with schools run by local authorities to form a single national structure.

The 1960s and early 1970s saw the next decisive change with the introduction of comprehensive schools in most areas of England, Wales, and Scotland. The distinction between grammar schools, which selected the most able students through the 11-plus exam, and secondary modern schools was abolished. Comprehensive schools, in contrast, take pupils of all abilities, mostly from surrounding neighbourhoods. In the state sector, 90 per cent of pupils are taught in comprehensives.

III

Structure

Most public education in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Commonwealth countries is organized into two phases: primary and secondary. In England the secondary programme generally begins at the age of 11 and continues up to the statutory school-leaving age of 16 or later. The main exception to this rule is the small group of schools that follows a tripartite system, under which pupils transfer from middle schools to upper schools at the ages of 12, 13, or 14. Secondary schooling in the smaller private education system (see Independent Schools, United Kingdom) tends to start at the age of 11, although, again, not exclusively.

Many secondary schools also cater for post-compulsory education. Students aged between 16 and 19 belong to the sixth form where they can take advanced qualifications, vocational or academic. School sixth forms are loosely held to be part of secondary education, but for official purposes, including government administration and funding, they are categorized as part of the tertiary education sector, along with sixth form colleges and further education colleges.

IV

Other Countries

Although there are broad similarities in the global understanding of secondary education, the detailed practice varies greatly between nations, and often within nations. In the United States for example, there is no education ministry for the whole country. Instead schools are governed by their individual states. The same is true of Canada. Many countries start secondary education later than in Britain. Thirteen is normal in the United States. In Ghana, “junior” secondary schools offer a basic education for pupils aged 12 to 15.

The secondary systems in Commonwealth countries offer a broad education leading to public examinations. They often have their roots in the UK, but many important differences have also developed. The Australian secondary school system varies from one region to another. Students start between the ages of 11 and 13, and compulsory education runs until the ages of 15 or 16. While most pupils attend schools run from public funds through the country’s system of State and Territory government, a large minority (around 30 per cent) are educated in private schools, often established and controlled by the Roman Catholic Church. These charge fees but also receive federal funds.

In some other Commonwealth countries, pupils start formal secondary education at a slightly older age, having first attended the sort of intermediate or “junior high” institution popular in the United States. New Zealand secondary schools generally have pupils from 13 to 18 years of age, for example. Most of these schools are government-run and are known as secondary schools, high schools, colleges, or area schools. Although most teach in English, a small number of schools teach in the Maori language.

India has the second largest education system in the world. There were 51 million registered secondary students in 1998–1999 in India. Students start secondary school at the age of 14 in theory, although in practice many pupils fail to attend—viewed as a serious national problem. The system is varied, with state-owned and private schools both common. The private establishments are often run by church and missionary societies. Some of them enjoy government grants.

In South Africa the main challenge is to integrate what, before the abolition of apartheid in 1994, was a system fragmented on racial lines, with 17 different administrative structures. Secondary schools cater for pupils aged 14 to 18, although education is only compulsory up to the age of 15.