Pre-school education

Pre-school education caters to children from 3 to 6 years of age. It is not compulsory, and is offered by both the public and the private sectors.

Primary education

Primary education lasts five years (Grades I-V) and caters to children from 6 to a maximum of 14 years of age.

Secondary education

Secondary education is divided into two cycles: lower secondary (Grades VI-IX) and upper secondary education (Grades X-XII). Secondary technical schools provide students with an intermediate level of technical skill. For simple trades, they enrol lower secondary school graduates for three or three and a half years of training. In more complex trades, upper secondary school graduates are enrolled for two or two and a half years. Secondary vocational schools offer both general education and vocational training to students who have completed lower secondary education; the duration of training is three years in simple trades and four years in complex ones. Students are enrolled in vocational training schools at two levels. At the lower secondary education level, the duration of courses ranges from two years (simple trades) to three years. At the upper secondary level, one- or two-year courses are offered. Upon graduation, students receive the diploma of “skilled worker”.

As far as higher education is concerned, under the new structure of the education system approved in 1993, four diplomas were established: for undergraduate courses, the Certificate of Higher Education (three-year of higher education after upper secondary school) and the Diploma of Higher Education (four- to six-year cycle of higher education after upper secondary school); for graduate courses, the master’s degree (in general, two years after the Diploma of Higher Education) and the doctoral degree (in general, two to four years after the master’s degree).

The school year consists of thirty-five working weeks. The academic year is divided into semesters and consists of thirty weeks on average.