Education > Duration of compulsory education: Countries Compared

Education is one of the criteria for determining the United Nations <a href=/graph/eco_hum_dev_ind>HDI (Human Development Index)</a></p>

<p>For most contries the current number of years of compulsory education is higher than the <a href=/graph/edu_ave_yea_of_sch_of_adu&int=-1>average years of schooling for adults</a>. This is primarily due to increases in the duration of compulsory education.</p>
<p>This difference is most pronounced in developing nations where compulsory schooling has only recently been introduced, such as Mali, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau. Despite the move towards compulsory education, many developing nations still have a low proportion of primary school age children, especially <a href=/graph/edu_pri_sch_gir_out_of_sch>girls</a>, who are <a href=/graph/edu_sch_enr_pri_net&int=-1>enrolled</a> at any school.

In Norway there are just 10 years of mandatory school, not 11.

Education must be made compulsory atleast till the age of 16. In this way the Millenium Development Goals can be achieved! Aristotle: "Education is an ornament in prosperity n a refuge in adversity". Owing to education, the economy of a country can be propelled on a modern development path. Our modern society requires educated people not illeterate ones!!

In the State of New Jersey, compulsory education law requires student to begin formal education at the age of 6 years (First grade) and, with parental consent, to end at the age of 16.

A major educational policy highly correlated to students withdrawing from school prior to graduation is the experience of having been "left back" due to academic failure.

Retention is simply punitive. It plants the seed of student disaffection with school. There is no educational advantage or benefit for repeating a grade, other than getting better report card grades for the second time around the same curricular instruction.

Research in the professional journals of school social work, education, and school psychology will attest to the most significant risk-factor associated with retention, i.e., leaving school before graduation.

Early identification followed by early intervention to address the student's learning difficulties is the proven alternative to retention.

When your child's teacher proposes retention, ask for the research that endorses retention as an legitimate educational intervention.

Whenever a certificated school professional asserts any opinion, observation, comment or judgment, ask for the research that supports those claims. The board of education hires professionals for these professional expertise, not their personal opinion, beliefs, etc. Accept only research-based claims by educators. You have a right to know what the educator knows which is based not on individual experience but what research has established as currently "the best practice".

Whenever an educator says, "...because it's the law!", again just ask for the legal citation.

The only person who has federally protected privileged communication is the school social worker when holding the State's highest clinical social work license, e.g., LCSW. Licensed clinical social workers in the capacity of a school social worker is authorized to provide mental health services to your child in school. Some States may refer to such services as psychotherapy or psychotherapeutic counseling.

For students under the age of 16, parental consent is required to provide mental health services. In such a case, you, the parent have the federally protected privileged communication which you may invoke as it relates to disclosures made by the LCSW to staff members who do not need to know nor have the right to access the clinical social worker's notes.

Nor must the social worker withhold information which would interfere with a colleague's need for clinical information to perform his/her job responsibilities. It is the ethical responsibility of the clinical social worker to make the determination as to what needs to be disclosed; it is considered ethical standard of practice to seek parental consent to share confidentially acquired information.

Unless there is "a duty to warn" involved, there may be no breach of privileged communication by the licensed clinical social worker.

It is strange that such big countries as:Egypt,CongoDR,Iran,South and North Koreas,Taivan,Uganda,Uzbekistan,Yemen are not in this data list.

The United States allows you to drop out of school at age 16.

Anthony - we go through 12th grade here and Kindergarten is not legally required for all children in all states. This means that 12 is the correct number for the United States. Remember these are years of required schooling per country - not average years of actual schooling.

You are wrong about the United States, my friend.