Back to school around the world

"When I have free time," he says, "I have to help my parents sell shoes. But my father tells me I have to study hard, and if I have enough ability, I can be something big like a lawyer." He says he's taking his father's advice. He plans to dive into his curriculum - math, Khmer (Cambodian) culture, literature, physics, and natural science - to ready himself for the high-pressure 12th-grade exit exams he will face in a couple of years. The exams are so important that police have to cordon off test sites, where desperate parents attempt to pass answers to their children.

Since Cambodian teachers make only an average of $20 US dollars per month, they often supplement their incomes by charging students for teaching materials or private instruction. Some days, Heng Vanda studies Khmer, mathematics, or physics with a private teacher - for about 600 riel, or 15 cents, an hour. He says concentrating on his schoolwork will be particularly important this year, as the curriculum grows increasingly rigorous: "There's a big difference - in math and history, especially. We're going to start learning about countries that we never knew about before."

His extracurricular activities are not very different from those of many children in the Western world. "I have a Playstation at home," he says. "We usually play soccer on it."

- Eric Unmacht and Khieu Kola

The school year runs from Sept. 1 to May 25, plus extra days for exams. School hours are generally 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In Soviet times, all schoolchildren wore a standard uniform, but this rule was abolished in the early 1990s. Now, most schools do not mandate uniforms, and those that do, make them distinctive to the particular school.

Schools are allowed considerable leeway to set curriculum. Students typically study humanities, such as Russian literature and history. Many schools also specialize in languages, arts, science, or mathematics. Specialization can begin as early as Grade 1.

The school year - three 13-week terms, with one-month breaks - starts in January. Hours are typically 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Enrollment in primary school has dropped to 50 percent from 90 percent since fees were implemented in the early 1990s.

Uniforms are mandatory in government schools.

Government authorities closed more than 60 schools last term because of student protests over such things as heavy-handed discipline, corrupt teachers, and bad boarding-school food.

The school year runs from early September through late June.

Some large public schools host two sessions each day to accommodate all their students.

The government pays for secondary schooling of students with good enough grades to get in; many who are able to pay choose private schools.

The school year starts in mid-August or early September and runs through May or June.

Classes run six to seven hours a day.

School is mandatory until age 16, and roughly three-quarters of adults have high school diplomas.

The school year begins Sept. 1 and ends in mid-July. Students go to school 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a two-hour lunch.

Uniforms are provided, not required.

China guarantees schooling up to Grade 9. Rural children often don't go beyond that, but the cities are fairly good at providing a high school education. Less than 2 percent of the population has a university degree.

School runs late September or early October to June. Attendance is mandatory until age 16.

In their last two years of study, students take electives in sciences or humanities. English is mandatory.

Students must pass the selectividad exam to go to college, but after this year, each college will have its own entrance exam.

School runs September to June.

The Cambodian literacy rate is 69 percent. For men it's 82 percent; for women, 58 percent.

9 percent of the population attends high school; 90 percent attends primary school.

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