Canada's Educational System

Canada’s Education System Canada’s education system remains very impressive. Mostly every country possesses a facet unique to them. Various factors compose Canada’s educational system that distinguishes it from others. For example, these factors include their basic K-12 structure, educational statistics, and structure with public versus private schools. Canada’s basic K-12 structure remains an important aspect of their educational system. Canada’s school year generally consists of 190 days from September through the end of June. Some children begin school at different grades with Junior Kindergarten only available to those in British Columbia and Ontario, and Kindergarten remaining optional in certain areas. Primary school consists of grades one through six with the exception of areas without middle school which includes grades seven through eight. Devoid of a middle school, high school in Quebec comprises grades seven through eleven, whereas high school remains grades nine through twelve in other areas. In Quebec, following high school students enroll in Cégep, a French acronym for “College of General and Vocational Education”, which compares to grades twelve and thirteen with the thirteenth year often referred to as a “victory lap.” Cégep offers two years of general or three years of technical education prior to attending a university in order to better prepare students. With effort put forth towards education, Canada ranks high among other countries. Canada spends approximately seven percent of its Gross Domestic Product on education. Although they possess the capability of spending a little more money towards education, their school completion rate remains substantially high with 87 percent of Canadians earning a high school diploma as of 2007, ranking second to the United States with 87.9 percent. Roughly, 8.5 percent of students in the 2009-2010 school years dropped out of high school. The average Canadian completes an average of 11.6 years of

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