Compulsory education

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Compulsory education is education which children are required by law to receive and governments to provide. Homeschooling is typically an alternative to going to government-accredited schools.

Compulsory education at the primary level was affirmed as a human right in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many of the world's countries now have compulsory education through at least the primary stage, often extending to the secondary education.

The Aztec are thought to have had the first compulsory educational system. All male children were required to attend school until the age of 16. ^[1]

In 1774 mandatory schooling was introduced in Austria^{[citation needed]} from which it gradually spread to other countries in the 19th century. It reached the American state of Massachusetts in 1852^{[citation needed]}, and quickly spread to other US states thereafter.

Contents 1 Criticism 2 Extent 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Criticism

Compulsory education has been criticized, most frequently by economists and libertarians.^{[citation needed]} These arguments can involve the view that compulsory education takes up a great deal of an individual child's time and is imposed on them without their consent or in regards to their own interests.^{[citation needed]}

Extent

In Canada, compulsory education is set for ages 6 through 16. In Finland, it starts at the age of 7 (+/- 1 negotiable), and ends after graduation from comprehensive school at the age of 16, or at last after ten school years. In the United States, compulsory education is set for ages 6 through 15. ^[2]. In Scotland compulsory education begins between 4 and a half and 5 and a half; it extends until the age of 16.

See also

• Child Labor
• Homeschooling
• Unschooling
• List of education articles by country
• Raising Of School Leaving Age (in the United Kingdom)
• Workforce
• John Taylor Gatto
• HSLDA

References

1. ^ Mann, Charles C. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.
2. ^ State Compulsory School Attendance Laws. Information Please Almanac. URL accessed on July 3, 2005.

External links

• Rohit Bhat writes abut the hurdles that India will face before it can guarantee free education
• The Principle and Practice of Compulsion in Education
• Age range for compulsory education for UNESCO member states (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
• A discussion of compulsory education as a human right (Right to education Project)

Schools

By age group: Primary school / Elementary school • Junior high school / Middle school • Secondary school / High school By funding: Free education • Private school • Public school • Independent school • Independent school (UK) • Grammar school • Charter school By style of education: Day school • Free school • Alternative school • Parochial school • Boarding school • Magnet school • Cyberschool • K-12 By scope: Compulsory education • Comprehensive school • Vocational school • University-preparatory school • University