Study on teacher education for primary and secondary education in six countries of the Eastern Partnership : Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine Final report

The system of primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education in all six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries is relatively analogous at the primary and lower secondary school level. There are two obligations - a school obligation and an educational obligation. Compulsory education encompasses primary and lower secondary education in all six EaP countries. In Ukraine, the obligation to attend the school spreads also over the upper secondary schooling. In all six EaP countries, the age when compulsory attendance begins is defined by the law, but only in Armenia and Moldova is there a compulsory leaving age. The system differs also in the ways in which the EaP countries structure the duration of upper secondary level of education, the transitional opportunities between the levels, and the age for students at each level, including the age when compulsory schooling begins. In Belarus, the two to four years of specialised secondary education is not necessarily free of charge. Notwithstanding some illustrated differences, all countries began their attempts to adjust their systems to a 12-year basic education cycle in line with European standards. These adjustments, however, produced varying results. Belarus, for example, has yet to join the Bologna process and has moved back to 11-year schooling. Similarly in Ukraine, the 11 year long duration of school education was re-introduced in 2010, reversing the reform aimed at introducing 12-year secondary education compulsory for all pupils that begun in 2001. Education at primary and secondary level is provided by a range of schools (e.g. primary, basic and senior schools, secondary general-education schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, colleges, vocational and technical schools). The main aim is to provide for the comprehensive development of a child, starting from the essential level of knowledge and physical skills towards further development of skills and abilities necessary to enter the subsequent, upper education levels and, ultimately, for choosing a particular professional orientation