Gudersnipe School System

In Foundation-controlled space, the education system is reffered to as the Gudersnipe School System or somtimes simple "GS"(Gudersnipe System) for short. This should not be confused with the actual Gudersnipe School, which does not have a kindergarten.

Basic Premise

The core philosophy of the system hinges around a high degree of flexibility, allowing for as much individual customization as possible. This allows children to openly excel in some areas without being hindered by a lack of over-all academic excelence.

Each subject is divided into a series of ranks, with promotion from one rank to the next being determined by aptitude test.

Ranking System

The school system does not seperate students into grades by year, but rather ranks them in each subject and places them in classes along side students of a similar rank. This allows children who are struggling on one subject or another to progress at their own pace, without being left behind by their peers. Typically there is an average of up to 3-ranks difference within a given age group.

Graduation is achieved once a child has achieved Rank 12 in all subjects, this typically hapens around age 17 or 18(though signficantly younger and older graduates are by no means uncommon). Because the system allows youth to progress at a more individual rate, it is also not uncommon to find a student who has achieved Rank 12 in one subject or another by a very young age but is perhaps behind or merely on track with his or her peers.

Early Graduation

The main goal of the rank system is to act as a sort of carrot on a stick. Rather than being confined to a rigid system that rinks children by age, they learn from early on that hard work pays off. As soon as Rank 12 is achieved in a given subject, that subject no longer must be studied. Thus, with hard work and determination, an unsavory subject can be completed and put out of the way very early on. The entire program can even be completed early without signficant difficulty.

Graduates as young as 14 and 15 are not uncommon, nore are students who complete greater proficiencies than 12 by the age of 18. Because of these factors, institutions of higher learning are also equiped to acomodate teenagers as well as young adults.

Quiting School=

Officially speaking, a juvenile does not have the ability to quit school. They must remain in school until either they reach Rank 12 in all subjects or they reach the age of majority(which can very greatly throughout the Foundation). Alternatively, they may also chose to remain in school after the age of majority if Rank 12 has not yet been achieved.

There do exist in most places various continuation programs allowing individuals to graduate and receieve a diploma after entering adulthood, so few remain in the traditional school system.

Graduation Rates

Within most GS Towns and otherwise Foundation-controlled areas, failure to graduate is highly stigmatized. Thus, even individuals who fail to achieve Rank 12 along with their peers will often continue to pursue it. The final graduation rate throughout most of the Foundation is 98.7%.

Value of the Diploma

In Gudersnipe Foundation(which owns as much as 60% of the economy) will not employ any individual who has not recieved a diploma or completed equivalant education. This does not apply to low-level menial labor positions, though is a requirment for promotion to anything higher. Because of the stigma surrounding dropouts, most companies employ a similar policy.