Dear Tipsters,
My colleague Stephen Black wrote:
> Canuck first. Here, education is a provincial responsibility, and
> nowhere guarded more jealously than in my own province of Quebec,
> a province more unique (sic) than the others. In the current
> Quebec system, there are 11 grades after kindergarten. One
> graduates to a kind of junior college called a CEGEP (acronym,
> but I forget for what). CEGEPs are an admirable egalitarian
> attempt to combine technical school and academic school in a
> single (free) institution, although the streams are separate.
> The academic stream is quite rigorous, and after graduating in
> two years, one is admitted to a 3-year university programme. In
> my day, there were no CEGEPs, and we went directly from grade 11
> high school into a four-year university programme. So the CEGEP
> innovation added a year to the overall educational system.
>
> In other provinces, I believe the norm is 12 years of primary and
> secondary schooling, followed by a four-year university
> programme. There is no equivalent to the CEGEP.
>
> Now the Brit. I had the opportunity to spend a year in Swansea,
> Wales some years ago, and one of my daughters attended a local
> high school (not a public school, which perversely means a
> private school) The O-level terminology is defunct. Instead, one
> takes an examination called the GCSE (for "General Certificate of
> Secondary Education") at the end of Grade 10. However, if the
> student is going on to university, one takes additional courses
> (for one more, or possibly two years) and takes "A-level" exams.
> There are necessary for university entrance. Probably the A
> stands for "Advanced".
I sent a comment to him, which I pass on, slightly amended, to TIPS :
By "Brit", you are referring to England, Wales and possibly Northern
Ireland. The Scottish education system is distinct and different at
the high-school level, with students taking standard national
school-leaving examinations in more subjects than the "English"
A-levels. Even the traditional university system was different,
although today most British university programmes have much in
common. My first degree from Glasgow University is an M.A! It had
general requirements of science, modern language and
humanities/social science before specialization. Psychology could not
be taken in first year and had a philosophy prerequisite.
BTW, "A" does indeed stand for "Advanced".
Stuart
___________________________________________________
Stuart J. McKelvie, Ph.D., Phone: (819)822-9600
Department of Psychology, Extension 2402
Bishop's University, Fax: (819)822-9661
3 Route 108 East,
Lennoxville, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Quebec J1M 1Z7,
Canada.
Bishop's University Psychology Department Web Page:
http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
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