Duration of study The majority of school districts have a school year of 39 weeks, the remaining districts a school year of 364 weeks. The school week comprises 6 days of instruction. In the primary school the school day cannot exceed 5 hours for each pupil, and in the elementary school, in general, not over 6 hours. The total number of class hours a week, including the morning religious service should not exceed a total of 36 class hours. Compulsory school attendance Compulsory school attendance begins with the calendar year in which the child attains the age of 7 years and ends with that in which he attains the age of 14 years. A child who has not acquired the information necessary for a leaving certificate by the time he attains the school-leaving age must continue in school until the close of the school year in which he becomes 15 years of age. A child who has earned his leaving certificate before attainment of the school-leaving age may be exempt from school attendance but not until the calendar year in which he becomes 13 years of age. A child may begin school during the calendar year in which he attains the age of 6 years before July 1 if the parents so desire and if he is found sufficiently mature through examination by a physician and by testing. On the other hand, the beginning of school attendance may be postponed a year in the case of a child who is immature. Plan of studies Some idea of the work offered each year in the primary and elementary school as expressed in subjects and the number of class hours a week may be obtained from the following table: Table 1.-Plan or studies for the 7-class elementary school form A Secondary Education General Data State secondary schools in Sweden are called högre ällmänna läroverk. They comprise a 4- or 5-year lower secondary school called a realskola and a 3- or 4-year upper secondary school called a gymnasium. A boy or girl who is planning to attend a university leaves the elementary school normally on completion of either the fourth or the sixth year. If he leaves the elementary school on completion of the fourth year he enters a 5-year realskola followed by a 3-year gymnasium. If he leaves the elementary school on completion of the sixth year he enters a 4-year realskola followed by a 3-year gymnasium. Those who leave realskolan on completion of the next to the highest class attend a 4-year gymnasium. Realskolan In February 1950 the State secondary schools included 67 högre allmänna läroverk each comprising a gymnasium with an attached realskola, and 152 realskolor not attached to a gymnasium. Of these 219 realskolor 65 comprised both a 4-year and a 5-year realskola, 139 a 4-year realskola only, and 15 a 5-year realskola only. Realskolan offers a general education type of instruction. In addition some realskolor offer in their two highest classes one or more practical lines of instruction comprising a 2-year commercial, technical, or home economics course. The general education line closes with an examination called the realexamen; the practical line closes with the practical (praktisk) realexamen. A summary of the preparation for the realexamen as expressed in subjects and hours a week per school year, beginning with the autumn of 1948, is given in table 2 for the 5- and the 4-year realskola. Municipal middle school (kommunala mellanskola) These schools are identical as to type, curricula, and study plan with the State realskola. They differ only in administration and economic position. In accordance with a Parliament decision of 1944 a total of 61 municipal middle schools became State realskolor during the period 1944 to 1950. Table 2.-Curricula for the 5- and 4-year realskola Municipal schools for girls (kommunala flickskolor) These schools offer a 7-year course for girls who leave the elementary school on completion of class 4, and a 6-year course for girls who leave on completion of class 6. Pupils of the 6-year line generally receive instruction together with the pupils of the 6 highest classes of the 7-year line. During the first year, however, pupils of the 6-year line receive separate instruction in English. The lower division of the 7-year line includes classes 1-5, and of the 6-year line classes 1-4. The two highest classes in each line comprise the higher division which offers a theoretical and a practical line of study. The subjects of instruction in the lower division are the same as in the realskola. The added required subjects in the theoretical line of the upper division are hygiene and economics with psychology as optional. The prac tical line includes a series of homemaking subjects: Sewing, weaving, household work, and child care. Completion of the theoretical line is marked by a leaving certificate with normal school competence. In 1947 this certificate was attained by 1,288 girls. During the same year 41 girls received leaving certificates from the practical line. Study at schools for girls is marked by a slower work tempo than at the realskola. Transfer to the 4-year gymnasium, which occurs on completion of class 4 at the 5-year realskola occurs on completion of class 5 at a school for girls. In addition, the pupil from a school for girls must take an individual examination called a tentamen in mathematics and chemistry. Transfer to the 3-year gymnasium generally occurs on completion of class 6. At this time also tentamina are required, depending in part on the subjects the pupil selected in class 6. Approximately one-fourth of the pupils who complete the upper division of the school for girls later go to a gymnasium. Pupils in Realskola Class III (Grade 7) at a secondary school in Stockholm. Practical middle schools (praktiska mellanskolor) These are 4-year schools with pupils generally divided in commercial, technical, and homemaking lines. All three lines are represented at the schools in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Hälsingborg, Örebro, Borås, and Kalmar. In addition to the usual mechanical technical line the Technical Middle School of Stockholm has also a chemical technical line. Studies of the fourth year at a practical middle school close with the practical realexamen. Private secondary schools (privatläroverk) There are three types of private secondary schools: (1) Secondary schools for boys and coeducational schools (högre goss-och samskolor) 212829-52--3 which generally have a 4- or 5-year realskola combined with a gymnasium; (2) private middle schools which have a 4-year realskola; and (3) private secondary schools for girls (enskilda högre flickskolor) which lead to normal school competence, to the realexamen, or to the student examination. Höglandsskolan, a State subsidized private school, offers the possibility for men to attain normal school competence. In 1948 private secondary schools under the supervision of the Royal Board of Education were attended by 2,969 pupils in lines comparable to those of the 5-year realskola, 898 in lines comparable to the 4-year realskola, and 1,329 in lines comparable to those of the secondary school for girls. During the same year 233 pupils took the realexamen and 161, including 8 boys, received certificates of normal school competence. The enrollment at various types of lower secondary schools during the fall semester 1948 is given in table 3. Table 3.-Number of pupils at lower secondary schools, fall semester 1948 The gymnasium offers two lines of study: a Humanities line called Latinlinje (Latin line) and a modern or science line stressing science and mathematics called Reallinje. The distribution of pupils between these two lines is given in table 4. Of the 67 State gymnasiums 9 are for boys, 7 for girls, and the remaining 51, coeducational. Municipal gymnasium (kommunala gymnasium).-Nine of the 26 schools of this type in 1948 had both a Latin line and a reallinje. One had only a Latin line. The remaining 16 were realgymnasiums. Except for the gymnasium in Solna which offers a 4-year course, municipal gymnasiums are 3-year schools. Private gymnasium.-In 1948 there were 23 of these schools. In addition to the pupils in the Latin line and the reallinje indicated in table 4, 5 gymnasiums had also a modern language line with a total of 126 pupils. |