Language/Swedish/Culture/Education-in-Sweden
The Swedish education system consists of nine years of compulsory comprehensive school, or grundskola as it's referred to in Swedish. After grundskolan, you have the Swedish counterpart of high school, which in Swedish is known as gymnasieskola. There are a large variety of different programs offered to the students who start gymnasiet. These programs are both of a practical, as well as of a more theoretical nature, and while some will provide the students with an education that they can put into use directly after graduating, others are more designed to be a stepping stone to further studies at university. The education offered at Swedish high schools is voluntary, but most Swedish youth still attend. In fact, statistics show that as many as ninety percent start high school, but quite a few drop out or graduate with grades that are too poor to get accepted to universities or colleges.
The mandatory Swedish school system for children and youth consists of nine years, and the children start when they are six or seven years old and leave school when they are fifteen or sixteen years of age. In Sweden, we have a long tradition of giving grades to students, although what has been graded and from what grade level the students receive grades has varied. Until 1962, for example, students were graded not only on their actual school performance but also on their behavior in class, in regards to order and conduct. In today's system, which was changed as late as 2011, the students receive grades starting in sixth grade. The scale for grades is a six-scale grading system, where A is the highest, and F is the lowest. What is actually graded is the school performance of the pupil. And students who have been absent from class to such an extent that the teacher can't judge their performance will, therefore, not receive any grade. The grades received in the mandatory school system are then used in order to get into the specific high school program the student wishes to enter. The six-scale grading system was also recently implemented in the Swedish high school system.
Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: Swedish Culture: Traditional Dishes and Dining Customs., Personal Hygiene, Sweden History & Swedish geography.
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