Education in USA vs. in Quebec

By Sophie Lavoie

As culture is different from one country to another, education is also really different from one nationality to another.

University football game 

When one of my friends moved to the United States of America, she used to tell me how different her schooling was in the USA from her schooling in Quebec. From there, the idea of writing an article about these differences appear to me a good subject. You should know that American schooling is the same as the rest of Canada. However, Quebec is distinguished by its different educational system from the rest of North America.

The Education system

First, the division of school years is different. The American education system is divided into 12 years. The first 5 years take place in the Elementary School. In Quebec, the equivalent of this grade level is found in Primary School, which has six years of study. The Elementary School is followed by Middle School where an American student will complete his 8th grade. Finally the students finish their Compulsory education in High School. The Cegep years seen in educational system in Quebec are already part of the High School program. Thus, High School graduates can access the University directly.

A class in San Francisco

The main difference between the American and Quebec education systems is the courses. An American student can choose, from the Middle School, courses he wants to achieve during the year in order to obtain a number of credit. The courses are divided by subjects. For example, in science, a student can choose between the course of biology, chemistry or physics. He can, therefore, choose many courses of mathematics or he can not choose any mathematic class at all. He can also study the language of his choice. Quebec educational system imposes to all students a general program in which the classes are already distributed. Finally, my friend used to tell me how proud she was to be part of her school in San Francisco.

Student life

In the United States of America, shooting in schools are more common than fires. As a result, students practice twice a year how to deal with a killer in their school. In addition, American students have access to university courses as soon as they are in High School. They can therefore reduce their number of courses at the university by choosing, for example, more advanced mathematics courses. These courses are called the ``Aps`` courses.

After all these informations, would you prefer to study in the USA or in Quebec?