Specialist schools, also known as specialised schools or specialized schools, are schools which specialise in a certain area or field of curriculum. [1] [2] [3] In some countries, for example New Zealand, the term is used exclusively for schools specialising in special needs education, which are typically known as special schools.
Specialist schools have been recognised in Europe for a long period of time. In some countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, education specialises when students are aged 13, which is when they are enrolled to either an academic or vocational school (the former being known in Germany as a gymnasium). Many other countries in Europe specialise education from the age of 16. [4]
The Nazi Regime established new specialist schools with the aim of training the future Nazi Party elite and leaders of Germany: [5] [6]
After the Second World War, Germany was separated into the capitalist West Germany and communist East Germany. In East Germany, a comprehensive system of education was established while in West Germany a specialised system was present. After German reunification in 1990, the former East Germany abandoned comprehensive education and implemented the specialised education of West Germany. [4]
In modern Germany, education becomes specialised from the age of 13, with students attending either academic schools known as gynmnasiums or vocational schools. [4] Vocational specialist schools and academies offer vocational qualifications. [7]
In the Netherlands, many specialist schools exist within the public education system. [8] Education is specialised between vocational and academic schools from the age of 13, [4] however there are many specialist schools in the primary sector of education, with specific types including partnership schools, Dalton schools and brede schools/community schools. [8]
Brede schools (broad schools), also known as extended schools or community schools, [9] combine education with important parental and children's services such as childcare and community health centres, and follow a goal of delivering effective and affectionate education while granting equal opportunities of education to adults, children and teenagers. [10] They may also be an alliance between schools and services rather than one institution [11] (e.g. the DE Brede School in Amsterdam is a collaboration between three separate primary schools). [12] Brede schools do not receive additional funding on a national level, nor is there a centralised model of brede schooling, with funding and policy being decided locally. In Rotterdam for example, brede schools are integrated into the education system. In addition to primary schools, pre-schools and secondary schools can also be brede schools. There are over 1,200 brede schools. In the 1990s, the majority of breed schools were located in areas which were historically deprived, namely those with significant levels of migration. [10]
In the United Kingdom, the term specialist school refers to a school with an emphasis or specialist focus on a certain field or area of the curriculum, [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] with these specialised areas being called specialisms. [19] British specialist schools intend to act as centres of excellence in their specialism. [20] [21] Specialist schools have been present in the primary, [22] secondary [23] and further education sectors. [24] There have been specialist schools in England, [25] Scotland [26] and Northern Ireland, [27] but none in Wales. [28]
In England, secondary specialist schools may select up to ten per cent of their yearly student intake for aptitude in their specialism provided that it includes either the performing arts, visual arts, physical education, sports or modern foreign languages. [29] There was a near-universal specialist system of secondary education in England in 2011, [30] with 96.6% of English state secondary schools having specialised. [28]
Under the specialist schools programme which ran from 1993 and 2006 until 2011, [lower-alpha 1] secondary schools pursuing specialist school status in England and Northern Ireland had to go through a designation process where they were required to pass benchmarks and demonstrate achievement in their desired specialism, while also raising between £20,000 and £50,000 in private sector sponsorship. [lower-alpha 2] Passing the process gave designated schools specialist status in one of 10 or 15 [lower-alpha 3] available specialisms and an optional curricular rural dimension. Two of the 10 or 15 specialisms could be combined to form one specialism. The reward for specialist status was a £100,000 government grant alongside an additional £129 in funding for every student enrolled to the school. Every three years, schools had to renew their status and re-designate. Re-designation brought with it the possibility of a second specialism and high performing specialist status; both of these would grant additional funding. Selected primary schools joined the specialist schools programme in 2007 as part of a government trial. Since 2011, secondary schools in England no longer need to designate or re-designate for specialist status and can gain specialisms beyond the 12 originally available in the specialist schools programme. Academy schools, which were specialist schools at this time, were already unrestrained in their choice of specialism. [32] The United Kingdom's specialist schools programme has attracted other countries toward specialisation. [40]
Any state secondary school in England, whether they are local authority-maintained or independent from their control, can become a specialist school. [41] Unique types of specialist school include City Technology Colleges, [42] early academy schools, [43] University technical colleges, [44] studio schools [45] and maths schools. [24]
Schools that operate specialist education programs exist in all Australian states and territories. These schools are typically associated with the arts or elite sports programs. In South Australia, specialist schools cover the arts, gifted and talented programs, languages, agricultural schools, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, advanced technology project schools, sports schools, and trade training centres. [46] In Victoria, examples of specialist government schools include those focused on science and maths (e.g.John Monash Science School), performing arts (e.g. Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School), sports (e.g. Maribyrnong Secondary College), and leadership and enterprise (e.g. The Alpine School). [47] An alternative model is those sporting organisations that deliver specialist programs to a narrow selection of schools, such as Cricket Australia's Specialist School Program to three Western Australian schools. [48] The Victoria State Government defines specialist schools as schools which specialise in subjects and also schools which specialise in special needs teaching. [49]
In Canada, there have been specialized schools in Calgary, Toronto and Niagara Falls. These schools, also known as niche schools and alternative schools, [50] [51] are usually selective, [52] however the Toronto District School Board has recently scrapped its old admission arrangements and have made its specialized schools enrol students based on the students' interest in attending the school. [53]
In the 1990s, the Chinese government addressed demands for a trained workforce by establishing selective specialist schools. The main type of specialist school is the key school. These are primary and secondary schools serving academic children. Schools can be designated with key status by meeting requirements in facility and teaching quality. Between 15 and 20 per cent of Chinese schools satisfied these criteria in 1999. [54]
China has established Confucius colleges and classrooms across 87 countries. [55] The Ministry of Education has also identified 3,916 middle schools and primary schools as specialist schools for youth football. [56]
In Japan, the first specialist schools were the Senmon Gakkō (専門学校). These were officially defined during the Meiji era in the ordinance of 1879 as a tertiary institution which taught one curricular subject. However, in practice, the term defined private institutions which taught multiple subjects. Before they were allowed university status in 1918, being a Senmon Gakkō was the highest status that these institutions could achieve. An example of one of these specialist schools was Waseda University, which opened in 1882 as Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō (東京専門学校) but was given its current name after claiming university status in 1902 [57] (the school did not receive official recognition as a university until 1920 and instead remained a private college). [58] [59]
In March 1903, the government increased its oversight over the Senmon Gakkō through Imperial Ordinance 61, officially called the Senmon Gakkō Rei. This ordinance required the schools to seek approval from the Ministry of Education for their name, location, teaching staff, admission quotas, academic year, fees, curriculum and regulations, and those that failed to receive approval were closed down. The schools also needed permission to hold examinations from the Ministry of Justice. The ordinance also expanded the term specialist school to include Japan's prestigious Imperial Universities and also military academies, although both of these were put in a "special category" separate from the Senmon Gakkō and given different regulations to them. [60] Under the ordinance, many private institutions became vocational Senmon Gakkō. [61]
In modern Japan, the Senmon Gakkō are tertiary specialist schools for vocational education with two years of study. The majority of them are private. [62] There are also other private specialist schools in Japan called Senshūgakkō. These offer curricular subjects such as computer programming, languages and bookkeeping. [63] There was previously a system of specialist schools for teacher training which consisted of normal schools, higher normal schools and colleges of arts and sciences. In 2002, former prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone recommended establishing new specialist schools "to train prospective education professionals", with these schools being "separate from ordinary universities". [64]
In New Zealand, a specialist school is a special school for students with high needs. [65] [66] Students with high needs are defined as those with "significant physical, sensory, neurological, psychiatric, behavioural or intellectual impairment". In 2010, students with high needs accounted for three per cent of the student population in New Zealand. [67] The specialist schools can be day specialist schools or residential specialist schools. Day specialist schools teach years 1–13, with students allowed to attend until they reach the age of 21. There are currently 28 such schools across the country, although they may hold satellite classes in mainstream schools to provide their specialist services in a normal educational environment. Residential specialist schools are for high needs students with a "slow rate of learning". Places are offered only when a student has a Specialist Education Agreement or when their needs cannot be met by the schools in their local area. [65] [68]
In South Africa, a specialist school is an ordinary school with a focus on teaching an offered particular specialised field of curriculum. [69] There are established agricultural schools, commercial schools, trade schools, technical schools, secondary art schools and, since 2018, sports academies. Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga has led an initiative to introduce specialist schools since 2015, when schools of specialisation were opened in Gauteng. These schools have an English-medium education and are located near townships. [70] Specialist schools for mathematics and science have also opened to improve South Africa's educational standard in these subjects. [71]
Since 1987, the Government of Singapore's education policy has been based on diversifying curricular provision between its schools. There are four government designated specialist schools offering a specialist education in chosen areas of the curriculum. [72] : 193 These fee-paying schools, officially named specialised independent schools, specialise in either applied learning, mathematics, science, sport or art. There are also four other independent specialised schools with a specialist vocational curriculum. These are known as specialised schools. [73] In 2011 over half of the public schools in Singapore were niche schools. These schools are specialist schools for extracurricular and unconventional subjects such as fencing, music, the performing arts and uniformed grouping. [72] : 188 Specialist curricular areas are known as niche areas, niche domains [74] or simply a niche, and niche schools are entitled to select up to five per cent of their intake in these areas. In 2013, the Ministry of Education set a goal for every Singaporean school to have a niche by 2017. [75] Schools are awarded niche status after demonstrating achievement in their desired niche and are rewarded with extra funding from the Ministry. Primary niche schools are called school-based excellence schools. [72] : 164
There is a successful small tradition of specialized schools for particular curricular areas in the United States. Specialized schools for a variety of subjects such as the performing arts or science exist in some cities, with specialized vocational and technical schools being the most typical. [76] Most of these schools are highly selective, [77] and are often referred to as exam schools. [78] The term specialized school is also used to refer to boarding schools for children with special needs, as boarding provision is a small part of their educational provision. [79]
A large number of charter schools in the United States are specialized schools. In 2015, a study evaluated the diversity between charter schools in 17 cities. The ratio between specialized charter schools and non-specialized charter schools in these cities was found to typically be around 50/50. 55 per cent of enrolled students attended non-specialized charter schools while 45 per cent attended specialized charter schools. [3] There are also two other main types of specialized school in the United States, the magnet school and alternative school. [80] Magnet schools are public schools which specialise in a particular course or curriculum. There were 3,497 of these schools in the United States during the 2019/2020 academic year. [81] Alternative schools are educational establishments with untraditional methods and curriculae, including a specialised curriculum. [82] [83] There were 10,900 alternative schools in the United States in the 2000/2001 academic year. [84]
Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft as an artisan, trade as a tradesperson, or work as a technician. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with requisite skill. Vocational education is known by a variety of names, depending on the country concerned, including career and technical education, or acronyms such as TVET and TAFE.
A Bachelor of Education is an undergraduate academic degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. A Bachelor of Education program typically lasts three to four years and combines both coursework and practical experience in educational settings. The curriculum is designed to provide foundational knowledge in pedagogy, educational psychology, teaching methodologies, and subject-specific training. Graduates of this program are equipped with the skills necessary to foster a supportive and effective learning environment for their students.
Education in Japan is managed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. Education is compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels. Throughout all levels, the academic year starts in April and ends in March, with two long holidays: summer and winter.
A vocational school, trade school, or technical school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks of a particular and specific job. In the case of secondary education, these schools differ from academic high schools which usually prepare students who aim to pursue tertiary education, rather than enter directly into the workforce. With regard to post-secondary education, vocational schools are traditionally distinguished from four-year colleges by their focus on job-specific training to students who are typically bound for one of the skilled trades, rather than providing academic training for students pursuing careers in a professional discipline. While many schools have largely adhered to this convention, the purely vocational focus of other trade schools began to shift in the 1990s "toward a broader preparation that develops the academic" as well as the technical skills of their students.
In Russia, the state provides most education services regulating education through the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Regional authorities regulate education within their jurisdictions within the prevailing framework of federal laws. Russia's expenditure on education has grown from 2.7% of the GDP in 2005 to 4.7% in 2018 but remains below the OECD average of 4.9%.
A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965.
The specialist schools programme (SSP), first launched as the Technology Colleges programme and also known as the specialist schools initiative, specialist schools policy and specialist schools scheme, was a government programme in the United Kingdom which encouraged state schools in England and Northern Ireland to raise private sponsorship in order to become specialist schools – schools that specialise in certain areas of the curriculum – to boost achievement, cooperation and diversity in the school system. First introduced in 1993 to England as a policy of John Major's Conservative government, it was relaunched in 1997 as a flagship policy of the New Labour governments, expanding significantly under Prime Minister Tony Blair and his successor Gordon Brown. The programme was introduced to Northern Ireland in 2006, lasting until April 2011 in England and August 2011 in Northern Ireland. By this time, it had established a near-universal specialist system of secondary education in England, with almost every state-funded secondary school in England having specialised. This system replaced the comprehensive system which had been in place since the 1970s.
Higher education in Japan is provided at universities, junior colleges, colleges of technology and special training schools and community colleges. Of these four types of institutions, only universities and junior colleges are strictly considered postsecondary education providers. The modern Japanese higher education system has undergone numerous changes since the Meiji period and was largely modeled after Western countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and the United States of America combined with traditional Japanese pedagogical elements to create a unique Japanese model to serve its national needs. The Japanese higher education system differs from higher education in most other countries in many significant ways. Key differences include the method of acceptance, which relies almost entirely on one or two tests, as opposed to the usage of GPAs or percentages or other methods of assessment and evaluation of prospective applicants used in countries throughout the Western world. As students only have one chance to take this test each year, there is an enormous amount of pressure to perform well on it, as the majority of the time during a student's senior high school years is dedicated to performing well on this single test. Japanese high school students are faced with immense pressure to succeed academically from their parents, extended family members, teachers, guidance counselors, peers, and society at large. This mindset is largely based on a result of a traditional society that has historically placed an enormous amount of importance on the encouragement of study on top of the merits of scholarship and benefits of pursuing higher education, especially in an education system that places all of its weight upon a single examination that has significant life-long consequences on one's eventual socioeconomic status, promising marriage prospects, entrance into a prestigiously elite white-collar occupation, and a respectable professional career path.
Education in Mauritius is managed by the Ministry of Education & Human Resources, which controls the development and administration of state schools funded by government, but also has an advisory and supervisory role in respect of private schools. The Tertiary education is maintained by the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology. The government of Mauritius provides free education to its citizens from pre-primary to tertiary levels. Since July 2005, the government also introduced free transport for all students. Schooling is compulsory up to the age of 16. Mauritian students consistently rank top in the world each year for the Cambridge International O Level, International A and AS level examinations. Among sub-Saharan African countries, Mauritius has one of the highest literacy rates. The adult literacy rate was at 91.9% in 2022. According to the 2022 census, the proportion of people with higher education has increased to 8.8%. Mauritius was ranked 57th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023, 1st in Africa.
Budo Senmon Gakko also known as Butoku Gakko, Bujutsu Senmon Gakko, or Busen (武専), was a school for training young men and women in Japanese martial arts. There were four departments; kendo, judo, naginata and kyūdō.
Education in the Empire of Japan was a high priority for its government, as the leadership of the early Meiji government realized the need for universal public education in its drive to modernize the nation.
Following independence from the Soviet Union, a major economic depression cut "public financing" for education in Kazakhstan, "which dropped from 6% of gross domestic product in 1991 to about 3% in 1994, before rising to 4% in 1999. Elementary- and secondary-school teachers remain badly underpaid; in 1993 more than 30,000 teachers left education, many of them to seek more lucrative employment.
Education in the Philippines is compulsory at the basic education level, composed of kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school. The educational system is managed by three government agencies by level of education: the Department of Education (DepEd) for basic education; the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for higher education; and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for technical and vocational education. Public education is funded by the national government.
In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also specialised in another subject.
Diploma in Japanese has 2 meanings. They can be translated into "Senmonshi"(Japanese:専門士), the Japanese original academic degree, and the certificate of graduation.
Lynwood Senior High School is an independent public co-educational specialist high day school in the City of Canning, located in the Perth suburb of Parkwood, Western Australia.
The NCEA Duke's Secondary School is an 11–19 academy in Ashington, Northumberland, England. It is part of the Northumberland Church of England Trust occupying the Josephine Butler Campus of its predecessor, The Northumberland Church of England Academy, which was an all-through school spread out across six campuses in southeastern Northumberland.
Specialist schools in the United Kingdom are schools with an emphasis or focus in a specific specialised subject area, which is called a specialism, or alternatively in the case of some special schools in England, in a specific area of special educational need. They intend to act as centres of excellence in their specialism and, in some circumstances, may select pupils for their aptitude in it. Though they focus on their specialism, specialist schools still teach the full curriculum. Therefore, as opposed to being a significant move away from it, the specialism is viewed as enriching the original curricular offer of the school.
A comprehensive school, or simply a comprehensive, typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. In England and Wales comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965. They may be part of a local education authority or be a self governing academy or part of a multi-academy trust.
Applied Learning Colleges, formerly Vocational Colleges, were introduced in 2006 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in England. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, vocational education. Schools that successfully applied to the Specialist Schools Trust and became Applied Learning Colleges received extra funding from this joint private sector and government scheme. In order to fulfil the criteria for Applied Learning College status schools had to either be designated as a High Performing Specialist School or select it as part of a combined specialist when first specialising. By 2009, 164 schools had specialised into an Applied Learning College.
This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence: "Specialist schools programme: Michael Gove announces changes". GOV.UK . Retrieved 22 January 2022.
