Grammar School
Grammar schools nowadays correspond to state schools in the United Kingdom, similar to grammar schools in Switzerland , Austria and Germany , i.e. secondary schools with higher demands. The school type and the associated selection test at the age of eleven had been replaced by comprehensive schools since a reform fifty years ago . The still existing grammar schools developed from old-language grammar schools , which were known for the cultivation of classical studies ( Latin and ancient Greek ), to schools that generally prepare for university studies in an eight-year course , while the majority of students join them after six years the then acquired Grammar School Certificate switches to vocational education (technical colleges).
There are currently 163 schools of this type across the country, which are attended by five percent of all secondary school students. But since 1998 the school authorities have been banned from opening new grammar schools. The high standard of education at the grammar schools made it very popular and difficult to find a place. The majority of children from higher-income families attend schools. In the middle of the 20th century, entrance exams for eleven and twelve year olds were introduced in state schools . From the 1950s , the gradual introduction of comprehensive schools , which correspond to the German comprehensive school , began. Many of the well-known grammar schools such as in Manchester or King Edward's in Birmingham , however, did not want to give up the principle of selection and therefore became public schools .
A grammar school in the USA often corresponds - depending on the region - to a German or Swiss elementary or primary school.
history
In medieval Europe, Grammar School was the name for any school. Many of these religious educational establishments belonged to cathedrals and monasteries, while others were founded as charitable institutions. Latin grammar was taught. In the 14th century there were about 400 grammar schools in England and Wales for a population of around 2.5 million. Such schools were often called high schools , especially in Scotland, where the term was first used in Edinburgh in 1519 .
Grammar schools cost nothing and were called public schools almost everywhere from the 16th century onwards , in contrast to the smaller and more elite private schools , for which fees had to be paid. Over time, many of the larger grammar schools developed into modern, fee-based public schools ; They left the original name Grammar School to those institutions that did not charge fees. Recently, the funds for these schools no longer come from charitable sources, but consist of government grants.
literature
- Bamber Gascoigne: Encyclopedia of Britain . BCA, London / New York / Sydney / Toronto 1993, ISBN 0-333-54764-0 , p. 268.
- Meyer's Encyclopedic Lexicon . Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1973, ISBN 3-411-01250-1 , Volume 10, p. 671.