Introduction  

Almost all education in the Dominion is State-run.  Private education is looked on with suspicion but does occur in a small number of circumstances.  Home schooling outside the education system is only permitted by state-authorised educators.

Schooling levels are broken up in the Dominion by the age of the citizen, and tend to fall into a number of defined streams.  The streams, in turn, are heavily influenced by social class.  The general educational types are shown in the table below.

    

Dominion Education Course Types by Age and Path

      

Education Paths

Common Path

Citizens start out on the Common Path and may progress all the way through from Induction to Senior training.  However some may leave after Junior or Middle education to switch to a Vocational (generally ‘blue collar’), Career (generally ‘white collar’) or Government Service path, or commence work.  Inducation and Junior education are compulsory.  At age 4, some form of education path is comulsory unless the person is employed.

Education is heavily influenced by social class and tech level.  Geneered and low-tech citizens are much more likely to leave the Common Path early.

In all but the smallest communities, education in the Common Path is usually segregated by social class.  In larger communities there may be separate facilties.  In smaller ones, pupils may attend the same facility, but will be mostly streamed into separate lessons based on their social class. 

 

Vocational Path

This is analogous to the old technical schools and often includes apprenticeships and work placements.  This path is heavily populated by Geneered citizens, although Hybrids are common.

 

Career Path

This path represents career-specific training in non-vocational jobs.  It may be general administrative, but can also represent training in a narrow technical field.  Many Hybrids follow the Career Path.

  

Higher Education Path

Equivalent of a contemporary tertiary education, most F-class citizens follow this path.  Although one will find all classes here.

Indeed, it’s perverse that G-class citizens that pursue the higher education path usually do well, as the entry requirements for H- and G- class citizens are increasingly stringent.

Applications for Continuing Higher Education tend to be competetive and much sought after.  This tends to be the exclusive domain of F-classes; it’s not uncommon for G- and H- classes to top the academic ranks in their Advanced Higher Education classes, only to be denied entry to the CHE courses.

 

Government Service Path 

The Vizierate and the Legion both operate dedicated academies to train their recruits.  Unlike modern military academies, which train officers, it’s common to attend the Legion Academy and join the Legion as an Other Rank.

Some Bureaucracy Bureaus also operate small academies to train specialist staff.  

Beyond Academy, students often attend Advanced Academy or sometimes pursue Higher Education of some type.

 

Recognition

Successful completion of a course of education results in the award of an equivalently named certificate.  These are often referred to by the acronyms from the above table.  eg:  One may proudly state that one has a CHE Certificate in Physics, or left school with only a JE Certificate to work in the recycling centre.

  

Course Duration and Timing

While the curriculum in early years is standardised such that each level of education correlates with a year of age, as later learning diversifies so do the course lengths.  While the Dominion finds it generally desirable to run courses of a kiloCycle in length, the latter courses once off the Common Path can vary in duration with the subject.  As such, the table above is a preferred guideline for later years, not a strict requirement.

 

Intake Groups

Classes, in the sense of The Class of ’89, are not quite the same in the Dominion as in contemporary education.  Whereas contemporary education intake runs almost universally on a calendar year basis, education in the Dominion has an intake on the hectoCycle.  Children will start induction education on the start of the first hectoCycle after which they turn two.  For example, if your birthCycle is 203.471, you turn two on 205.471 and your first Cycle of school for your Induction Education is 205.500.  You would expect to complete your course of Induction Education on 206.499.

  

University Research

A difference in Dominion culture worth noting – lots, if not the majority, of research that in contemporary society that would be done in Universities via a grants process is, in the Dominion, done directly by the government.  The Vizierate, Legion and various Bureaucracies all do R&D and have research facilities dedicated to that purpose.  Higher Education facilities run by the Education Bureau are much more focussed on imparting knowledge and skills than being places where learned academics can undertake research in their disciplines.  For example, a Senior Specialist with the Resources Bureau could be the approximate equivalent of a tenured university professor, as could a Minor Vizier or Vizant 4, or a Legion Staff Under Commander. 

  

Social Opinion

A Higher Education Path or Academy Path is generally looked upon as socially desirable, however, the Dominion is very work-focussed and too much education is not generally regarded as a good thing.  eg:  Someone with multiple CHE Certificates may be considered a know-nothing, lazy academic.