Compulsory
The school days usually last a whole day (from around 8:00 until 17:00) with 45-minutes-long classes, with a little more flexible schedules in more rural areas. In China's metropolises, where lunch breaks are shorter, kids might finish school around 15:00 as well.
The Chinese educational structure provides for six years of primary school, three years each of lower secondary school and upper secondary school, and four years in the standard university curriculum.
China School Hours
In large cities like Shanghai, for example, Chinese students spend 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at school with an hour and a half for lunch, but in other areas, kids get to head home for nap time at lunch!
Japan, however, had the most school days per year--220 days--compared with 180 days for France and the United States. The German school year was 185 days, while U.K. school kids attended classes for 190 days. Japanese children had only 12 weeks of holidays a year, almost a month less than French and American students.
A typical school day
School hours are generally from 8.45am to 3.00pm Monday to Friday. In a typical school day, there are five to eight lessons, ranging from 40 minutes to one hour. There are two breaks in the school day – a morning tea break (recess) and a lunch break, both of which are supervised by teachers.
Australia. In most of Australia, the primary and secondary school year lasts about 200 days, from late January or early February to early or mid-December, and is split into four terms: Term 1 starts in late January or early February and ends in late March or early April (often in close proximity to Easter).
In general, kids have to be at school by 8:45 am. School finishes around 3:15 pm, so they have to be in school for about six and a half hours every day from Monday to Friday. However, most kids also attend after-school clubs, and many also go to juku (cram school) in the evening to do extra studying.
Apart from the longer hours spent at school, the time they take to do homework is also longer and Chinese students who spend over 2 hours daily on homework outnumber those from Japan, Korea and U. S. (Figure 3). As reported by a news briefing, Chinese students, on average, spend 2.82 hours per day on their schoolwork.
In Japan, children typically undergo 12 years of formal education consisting of elementary, lower secondary, and upper secondary education.
Students and teachers have summer and winter vacations for about three months. The summer vacation in China generally starts around July 1st and ends around August 31st, and the winter vacation usually falls on January or February according to the date of the Spring Festival.
In the southern hemisphere, summer occurs in December, January, and February. In most states, schools have 6–7 weeks of summer holidays, usually starting 7–10 days before Christmas, and ending the week after Australia Day (any time from January 27th to February 5th, depending on where you live).
Scholastic year in Kuwait 'shortest' with 174 days; Japan in top spot with 243 days. Home page>WORLD>Middle East>Scholastic year in Kuwai...
Students attend school from Monday to Friday each week, with many schools having compulsory team sports events on Saturday mornings. School hours vary slightly across Australia but are generally from 8:30am to 3:30pm each school day.
Nine-year compulsory education policy in China enables students over six years old nationwide to have free education at both primary schools (grade 1 to 6) and junior secondary schools (grade 7 to 9). The policy is funded by government, tuition is free. Schools still charge miscellaneous fees.
High schools have been described a very familial. A group of 40 plus students often stay together and share all the same classes in their first two years and often chose their classes to stay with their friends in their third year.
The pooled mean sleep duration in mainland Chinese students from 11 studies with available data was 7.23 hours (95% CI: 6.92–7.61), which was significantly longer than that in students in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan (6.77 hours, 95% CI: 6.67– 6.88).
In China, the summer vacation typically begins around mid-July, though some schools will break up as early as late June. The vacation period lasts for about 2 months, which students can spend doing different things.
Going to school in China is a tough feat. Burdened with classes 6.5 days a week, from 7:30am to 9pm, students' livelihoods are fully consumed with school, homework, and studying and have very little room for extra curricular activities and play. See my last post for closer look at the Chinese schooling system.
Korean education uses a 6-3-3-4 single ladder system - six years in elementary school, three years each in middle school and high school, and four years in university. All citizens have equal access to education based on their ability regardless of their social status or position.
Well-known for its high-achieving students, South Korea's education system is quite demanding. Students spend much of their time, often between 12 to 16 hours per day, at school or at a special after-school academy called a hagwon.
Public schools in Japan have classes five days a week, from Monday to Friday. There are also schools that have classes on Saturday. In junior high and high schools, there are six class periods each day, typically lasting 50 minutes for each.
In Australia, Year 7 is the eighth year of compulsory education and the first year of secondary school (high school). Children entering are generally aged from 11-12 and leave around 12-13 years old.
School education in Australia includes preschool, preparatory (or kindergarten), primary school, secondary school (or high school) and senior secondary school (or college).
Year 10 is the final year of compulsory education in Australia. Students may elect to opt out of the education program at this point. This leaves the student without a VCE certificate (similar certificates apply in other states), and most choose to attend TAFE or enter an apprenticeship.