Education

 

The education system in Iceland is divided into four different sections. The first section is ECEC, which stands for Early Childhood Education Care Level 0. The services provided to children started when the child was around 18 to 36 months until they reached the age of 6. These services they provide are the following, according to Eurydice, “ monitor and encourage children’s general development in close cooperation with parents and guardians; provide systematic linguistic stimulation and contribute to general skills in the Icelandic language; provide children with mental, intellectual and physical care according to the needs of the individual child, so that they may enjoy their childhood; encourage children’s broad-mindedness and strengthen their moral values; lay the foundation necessary for children to become independent, autonomous, active and responsible participants in a democratic society that is undergoing rapid and continuous development; cultivate children’s expressive and creative abilities with the aim of strengthening their self-esteem, health awareness, confidence, and communication skills”( Eurydice. (n.d.). This also helps the child transition smoothly from Pre-K to elementary school. The child will have all the necessary skills to start kindergarten. 

 The second level of education is Single Structure Education, also referred to as Integrated Primary and Lower Secondary Education, which is when a child starts school and attends school from the ages of 6 to 16 years of age. It was super interesting that their education system only goes from kindergarten to ten grades. Parents can decide when they would like their child to start school, but it has to be approved by the educational system. The third academic level is Upper Secondary and Post-Secondary, the ages begin from 16 to 19 years old. At this point, students must attend 3 to 4 years of general and vocational studies. These are requirements for Icelander's planning to attend a university to have all the requirements to get accepted into the institution they wish to attend. In most cases, some vocational studies also offer students some training or internship in the field they may be interested in. The last level of education in Higher Education is a set of 7 different branches Universities offer for undergrad and grad students.

          

 A typical day in school in Iceland is similar to our education system; younger children only spend several hours at school, and just like any other kindergarten class, they provide snacks and naps. From my research, school starts around the same time as most schools here in the United States in August, but I am not sure when their school session ends, assuming it's around May or June. I want to add a direct quote from the article that states the following. "Most ordinary ECEC centres are open for at least 41 hours a week (Monday–Friday) and some of them for even longer. Children may attend part-time or full-time. Full-time attendance is 40 hours or more per week; however, how much time the parents and guardians choose to use is optional. Normally, the preschools are open at 7.00 or 8.00 and close at 17.00 or 18.00 (Eurydice. (n.d.)." The educational system in Iceland is publicly funding meaning that some parents may be responsible for paying several fees some being higher than other depending on where they live and like most institutions, private school's prices are all out of pocket expenses for parents depending on where they want sent their children to school. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the percentage of students that graduated from High School, and it only gives me the percentage of students who received a bachelor's. OCED states that 36% completed the program—the rate of graduates, whether men or women, has increased in the last several years; more young people are pursuing a better education. Students in Iceland have similar requirements as we do, such as taking Math, English/writing, Science, and History, and they require their students to know a second language, such as Dutch. In most cases, the only exception is if the child isn't a native Icelandic, then they provide them the Icelandic language as their second language of choice so that they can learn the language and speak it. To help the student/child be more successful in the future so that they don't struggle in the long run (Education at a Glance. OECD. (n.d.). 

          

References:

 

Education at a glance. OECD. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/

Eurydice. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-education-systems/iceland/organisation-centre-based-ecec