CANADIAN EDUCATION

Have you ever wondered what makes Canada one of the top performing countries in the worlds
education system? There exsists so many negative arguements on this question, however, the most
genuine evidence is that Canada scored one of the strongest records of student achievement in 2000 in the
PISA competition according to the CIEB (Center on Education Benchmarking) . The Canadian education
covers primary, secondary and postsecondary schooling. There is no federal level education ministry in
Canada, each province and territary has its own system of education. Canada is believed to has one of the
best schooling system around the world because of its structure, programs and the remarkably high
academic standards across the country.

Canadas early education, which is either called pre- elementary or kindergarten, is an extremely
substantial stage. According to the Canadian teachers and parents, it is the first time when a childs
manner and personality is built and their educational foundation is constructed. The kindergarten
education emphasizes creativity and pre- literacy skills with flexibility and low- pressure by providing
them the multiage approach work and different character building methods, for example: teachers can
encourage their students to be the best they can be with confidence and positivity. Kids in Canada usually
attend kindergarten at the age of four or five for about two years. Depending on the local education
authorities, this stage may be compulsory from age four or earlier. There are some specific preschool
daycare programs for students to choose and experience, for instance, junior kindergarten in Ontario only
and the common kindergarten (K) which is required in most provinces except for those on the savanna. In
the article Education in Canada: An overview, the Council of Ministers of Education clearly gives the
statistic of students attending the kindergarten education at an average level, 95 per cent of five-yearolds attend pre-elementary or elementary school and over 40 per cent of four-year- olds are enrolled in
junior kindergarten, with significant variations among the jurisdictions (CMEC, 2008). With this given
massive number of children attending kindergarten, it evidently shows how Canadian consider the
importance of this stage to their young generations.

Moving to the next stage, Canadas educational system for year one to twelve students is outstanding
since their result on studying and achievements are extremely amazing, especially in some international
mathematics competitions, such as the PISA 2000 and 2003. Generally, in most English- speaking
provinces, this level includes six years of elementary education and then the next six years of secondary
education. Primary education curriculum in Canada concentrates on the basic subject of language,
mathematic, social studies, science, health and physical education which are taken at higher level with
specialized subjects each year. As Canada is a bilingual country, English- language and French- language
schools are available for international students to enter. In the last year of secondary school, students can
receive the High School Diploma by getting the minimum amount of credits that they must have gained
during their studying process. Credits can be achieved from compulsory as well as elective subjects which
can also be non- academic subjects. For pupils who wish to take higher education, they are required to
obtain more than the minimum standards required by their province.

The last stage of the Canadian education system is the tertiary education, which includes universities,
colleges, community colleges and vocational schools. According to the Internationalization survey in
2014 of Universities in Canada, only 3.1% of students decided to study abroad after completing
secondary education in 2012- 2013. In addition, there were 1.7 million students who enter Canadian
universities based on the statistic provided by the Association of Atlantic Universities, Council of Ontario
Universities and individual institutions (COU, 2015) which clearly shows that Canadas higher education
has great influence on Canadian pupils and their life decision. There are 98 universities in total in Canada.
This stage of education is accessible in both government- supported and private institutions, which offer
degrees, diplomas, certificates, and attestations depending on the nature of the institution and the program
that is chosen. Especially, tertiary educational institutions in Canada can vary in legal statuses. In other
words, students in Canada can have various options to choose from for their study. Community colleges
usually provides two- year programs which are similar to MBO or HBO, higher professional and
intermediate vocational education in Netherlands. In addition, undergraduate and graduate programs, up
to PhD- level are available at universities. Colleges only concentrate on undergraduate education. All of
them offer international and professional experiences, especially for the students in bachelors programs.
The best thing about those institutions is that they always ensure for their university graduates
employment status by contacting with employers who look out for selected graduates.

It is obvious that Canadian parents do not need to concern about the best academic environment for their
children since it is already available in their country. In the article Canadian parents making sacrifices to
send kids to college, survey shows, CBC News reports on the value of education from the parents
perspective. They explore the fact that Canadian parents can do mostly everything for their children to
receive the high- quality education. The surveys result shows: Parents reported they were eating out
less, forgoing vacations, working more or borrowing money against their mortgage or line of credit to
afford university or college education for their children (CBC, 2014). In other word, education is
extremely significant to parents in Canada and they totally believe that their children can benefit from
their countrys high quality education. It is undeniable that Canada has one of the most unique and top
educational system worldwide with standardized curriculum and various programs.

Source:
https://www.epnuffic.nl/en/publications/find-a-publication/education-system-canada.pdf
http://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/64/Education-in-Canada2008.pdf
http://www.cmec.ca/299/Education-in-Canada-An-overview/#
http://www.univcan.ca/universities/facts-and-stats/