Reykjavík Grapevine - 26.08.2011, Page 20

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13 — 2011
Back To School | Special
The Icelandic education system
resembles those of Denmark and
other Scandinavian countries.
There are four levels of education:
day-care for children aged 2–6
years old (sometimes younger),
compulsory education for children
aged 6–16, followed by ‘secondary
school’ (akin to high school), which
is usually four years, followed by
higher education provided by Ice-
land’s universities.
Iceland does not have a tradition of
private schools, although there are pri-
vately owned and operated institutions
at all levels of education. Generally
these do not carry any higher prestige
than the public institutions, and com-
pared to other developed countries
Iceland has a very low level of students
attending private schools. All levels of
education are subsidised by the state,
including day-care. The day-care and
the compulsory schools are managed
or overseen by local authorities, while
the menntaskóli and universities are
managed or overseen by the state.
There is not much parent involve-
ment in the schools’ work and parents
are generally not offered many oppor-
tunities to volunteer or otherwise par-
ticipate directly in the daily operation of
day-care centres or primary schools. Of
course the level of parent involvement
varies very much from school to school,
and from class to class, and it is very
much up to the parents themselves to
participate and get engaged. There is
usually a shortage of parents on par-
ent boards, so anyone willing to invest
time and energy will usually be greeted
with open arms. Parents who are used
to American style involvement in their
children’s education will be disappoint-
ed and frustrated at the general level of
disengagement of other parents.
Most children engage in some
extracurricular activities, especially
sports. The local sports team usually
offers handball and soccer classes that
are popular with both boys and girls.
Some also offer swimming and gym-
nastics and other sports or martial arts
and even chess! Enrolling in sports or
such activities can be an important
step towards finding friends and gain-
ing acceptance in the world of Icelan-
dic children—a world that can often be
very competitive. The scouts are also a
popular choice.
While arts and music education are
subsidised by the local authorities, they
are generally rather expensive to at-
tend. The local youth centres might of-
fer clubs or some classes, and schools
similarly offer some after-school clubs.
Finding extracurricular activities for
your children can be challenging and
parents are encouraged to engage in
research, ask other parents what their
children are doing, as well as contact-
ing your local school, sports team and
the municipal authorities for informa-
tion.
THE FOUR LEVELS OF EDUCATION
Day-care
In Iceland, all children aged 2–6 have
the right to day-care. Day-care institu-
tions are operated by the municipalities.
In 2010, there were 277 pre-primary in-
stitutions in Iceland, with an average of
68 children per institution. Day-care is
subsidised by the state, although par-
ents pay day-care fees. Children eat
breakfast and a proper lunch at school.
Privately operated day-care centres
have grown rapidly in number in re-
cent years. At year-end of 2009 there
were 39 privately run day-care institu-
tions in Iceland. Most of these are or-
ganised around a specific educational
philosophy, including ‘Waldorf educa-
tion,’ which is based on the principles
of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner.
There is also homegrown educational
philosophy ‘Hjallastefnan,’ which also
emphasises fostering children’s imagi-
nation and connection to nature. Hjal-
lastefnan operates ten day-care cen-
tres and three compulsory schools that
serve children 5-8 or 9 years old.
Day-care centres are legally obliged
to accommodate all children, includ-
ing disabled children and children
with special needs, including special
support (although the reality does not
always meet these ideals). Despite day-
care staff having long been underpaid
and certain austerity measures that
have hurt the system, the day-care
system has held up very well, and is
extremely ambitious and admirable.
Icelandic day-care centres are very
multicultural, as both students and staff
represent the rapidly changing face of
Icelandic society.
Compulsory education—Grunnskóli
In Iceland, school attendance is com-
pulsory for all children aged 6-16. Home
schooling is not allowed, and parents
are legally obliged to send their chil-
dren to an accredited school. In 2010,
there were 172 compulsory schools in
Iceland. Out of these, ten were private
schools. Less than 2% of students at-
tend private schools, fewer than in most
OECD countries. At public schools edu-
cation is offered free of charge, while
most private schools charge student
fees.
Compulsory education is largely
standardised, and when children fin-
ish the “standardised tests” at age six-
teen most have gone through the same
educational experience. The education
is focused on academic subjects, and
although there is some opportunity to
take elective subjects at older levels
children who wish for an academic
experience consisting of arts or mu-
sic must take these subjects at arts or
music schools, and these are far from
cheap. There are very few schools that
offer any kind of vocational classes for
children younger than sixteen.
There are no schools for gifted chil-
dren, and schools that serve children
with special needs, physical or learn-
ing disabilities are proportionately rare.
The Icelandic educational system has
tried to emphasise equality and mostly
attempts to serve children with special
needs within the regular school system.
The average size of classes is 18-19
children, which is low in international
comparison. Compulsory schools are
also small on average, a third of schools
having fewer than 100 students. The
largest school, Árbæjarskóli, has fewer
than 800 students.
Secondary education—Menntaskóli
Secondary education is not compul-
sory, but anyone who has completed
compulsory education has the right to
enter a course of studies in secondary
school. All teenagers who have finished
their compulsory education are guar-
anteed access to the “menntaskóli,” al-
though they are not guaranteed admis-
sion to the school of their choice.
Generally, secondary education is
organised as a four-year process, lead-
ing to a matriculation examination that
gives access to university level schools.
The length of studies in vocational edu-
cation varies, but four years is also the
most common here. As a consequence
most students in secondary schools are
16–20 years of age.
There are three types of schools
within the secondary school system:
grammar schools, comprehensive
schools and specialised schools. The
nine grammar schools focus on classic
academic subjects aimed at preparing
students to enter University and are in
many ways similar to the Gymnasium
in Denmark, deriving their origins from
medieval cathedral- and monastery
schools. While students can in fact still
study Latin at some of those schools,
their curriculum has been thoroughly
modernised and students can choose a
line of study which suits their academic
interests, languages, social sciences,
or natural sciences, but generally have
very little choice in which classes they
attend, as they cannot freely choose
subjects as students at comprehensive
schools can.
The comprehensive schools offer
academic studies as well as vocational
training. There are currently 22 com-
prehensive schools being operated,
and while only three of the grammar
schools are located outside Reykjavík,
most secondary schools outside the
capital are comprehensive schools that
offer vocational training. Students have
a wide variety of subjects to choose
from that are not offered at the gram-
mar schools, from arts and theatre to
plumbing and ship building. The spe-
cialised schools offer classes in sub-
jects not offered in the comprehensive
or grammar schools, such as music or
arts, and most do not graduate stu-
dents with a matriculation exam. Some
of the specialised schools also offer
classes at the university level, including
the agricultural college at Hólar.
Some of the grammar and compre-
hensive schools charge school fees or
charge students for materials, although
these are reasonable in most cases.
Classes at the specialised schools are
more expensive. The governmental stu-
dent loan system, LÍN, provides subsi-
dised loans to cover fees and materials
to eligible students, but these loans are
very modest in most cases and students
therefore continue to live with their par-
ents and rely on family support.
For many students, the second-
ary school experience is less about
academics and more about the active
social life. Icelandic secondary schools
do not compete in sports, but academic
competitions are popular—and there is
considerable prestige attached to mak-
ing the school debate team or the quiz
team.
Higher education
Only those who have finished the ma-
triculation exam at a grammar- or
comprehensive school, or a compa-
THE ICELANDIC
EDUCATION SYSTEM:
A PRIMER
Words
Magnús Sveinn Helgason
Photo
Natsha Nandabhiwat
“There is not much parent involvement in schools work
and parents are generally not offered many opportunities
to volunteer or otherwise participate directly in the daily
operation of day-care centres or primary schools.”
Wow, huh? It’s fall already? Goddamn. Stupid short Icelandic ‘summer’. Oh well, whatever, nevermind,
as the poet once casually remarked. We’ll surely enjoy another micro-summer in 2012. In any case, the
return of FALL DOOM DEATH DARKNESS also means the start of yet another school year. And we
thought: education is important, why not compile a bunch of articles related to Iceland’s schools and
education system so as to help folks get all pumped up for the impending school year.
So we did.
Read some nice, school related articles on the preceding two spreads, this very one and the fol-
lowing one. Hurry! They won’t read themselves!
BACK TO SCHOOL!
We hear it is sometimes tough for immigrants to understand the local schooling system and to
enroll their children in it. So we thought we'd compile this article. Hopefully it helps.