G1eet said:
I was a tad skeptical when I saw "It's all free." Technically, that's how it is here, but that system doesn't work. Or do you mean that its funding doesn't even come from taxes? Also, when you say you can pick courses from any school, does that mean you can take whatever classes you want? Because under the NYS Regents Diploma bull, there's a required 3 math, science, history, and language credits, plus electives. There's no leeway for those who know what they want to major in college, no breathing room for those who hate the "same old, same old". And there's not even that much to choose from in the way of electives. Say you'd like to learn German or Latin. Nope, it's not provided. Maybe you like Ancient History? Nope, there's no class like that either. The only elective I'm taking that isn't a generic art/music course is Short Fiction. And they offer over twenty electives- 5% is terrible statistic.
I think that would be a great system for me, other than the language fluency requisite. Sometimes I may think that schoolwork is too demanding, but that's because of the fluctuations in expectations. In one state-required history class, I'm rewarded for even showing up. In other classes, I'm expected to memorize and recite the whole periodic table. But, if the bar was set to a high standard, I think I could deal with it, because in most of my classes, I know more on the first day than the teacher expects me to know five months into the semester. I just happen to like facts.
Plus I'd be that much closer to the Swedish metal scene : ]
Well, all schools are funded by the state and administrated locally. Strangely enough it works just fine over here. All education from pre school to universities is free.
There are required courses everyone has to complete, but spread those over a period of 3 years and the compulsory courses will take up only a fraction. But basically you could pick any course from any school in the area. You don't have to study languages, exept for English (and Swedish if you are a citizen of Finland, as Finnsih and Swedish are both official languages). Most kids just want morea languages, firstly because learning languages makes learning easier altogether and secondly, English just isn't enough these days.
History courses available cover everything from prehistoric cavemen to the gulf war. Only 2 of the 12 available consentrate only on Finnish history, the rest are global. Latin, Russian, Spanish, Portugese, Freanch, Hungarian, Polish, or even Japanese and Chinese are on the lists, although for some of them you have to go to Helsinki.
You should check out the Finnish UG metal scene, the Sewdes wet their pants when they hear proper metal.
