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SCHOOL LANGUAGES English is the official language, and that is what schools teach in. Of course other languages are taught as well, the tribal languages for instance, and French, and possibly others. In Calabar, the tribal language is Efik (see Language section). SCHOOL YEAR In Nigeria, the school year currently runs from January to December, consists of 3 terms with a month between terms. It used to be that way many years ago, and then they switched to a school year that ran from September to July, but within the last decade they've switched back to a school year that runs from January to December. SCHOOL LEVELS Some Nigerians go to nursery school in their early years. What is basically done there is teaching kids the basics like the alphabet, etc. For children who do not go to nursery school, the first level of schooling that is attended is Primary School (Primary 1 through 6) equivalent to what is called 'elementary school' in some other countries. This runs for 6 years, and after that, students take the Common Entrance Examination to be admitted into Secondary School, which is the equivalent of 'high school' in some other countries. Up until around 1990, secondary school was a 5 year program (total...that is, the period between primary school and any higher education) and at the end, you had to take the WAEC (West African Examination Council) exam to graduate from secondary school, and the JAMB (Joint Admissions Matriculation Board) exam to be admitted into colleges. However, around 1990 what was once known as 'secondary school' was split into 2 sections and had a year added. So now, there is Junior Secondary School (JSS), which lasts 3 years, and then students have to take the Junior WAEC or the JSSE (Junior Secondary School Exam) to move up to Senior Secondary School (SSS), which also lasts 3 years, after which you take the exams to leave and go to college. Also, for Secondary Schools, boarding schools are a quite common alternative to day schools (non-boarding schools). After Secondary School, students can enter Universities, Polytechnics, Teacher Colleges, Trade Schools, etc. etc. Of course, a number of students also go further after University/College on to graduate school. Because college lasts for about 4 years, you'll sometimes hear this education system called the 6-3-3-4 system. Before a person can start working in Nigeria (of course, if they start their own company, this does not apply) they need to have one year of National Youth Service Corp. (NYSC), and most Nigerians go through this right after school. SCHOOL ATTIRE During primary school and secondary school (both parts), students wear a school uniform that is chosen and designed by their school. During school parties or special functions, students are sometimes allowed to wear what they choose. Also, there are usually other physical standards that students must abide. For instance, most schools either have the girls hair cut short, or allow them to braid it neatly, sometimes depending on the grade level. Boys must have their hair short. With both boys and girls who have short hair, the hair must be neatly combed. Also, shoes, jewelry, and other accessories usually have guidelines attached. As far as I know, boys are not allowed to wear jewelry. Neatness is really important, and your school uniform must be clean and ironed, which is sometimes difficult if you have no electric power between the time you wash it, and the time you wear it (unless you were lucky enough to have a generator for power outages). So, people usually have anywhere from 2-5 identical school uniforms. Also, because the weather is so hot, you sweat a lot, and wearing something more than a day in a row (between washings) is unheard of. For those going to boarding schools, in addition to the school uniforms that are required by the schools, the boarding schools usually also have a house uniform that the students wear after school hours. Usually, the design on these is the same, but the colors between different houses of the boarding school have different colors so it is easy to recognize which house the students belong to. There are no restrictions on attire and appearance in higher education. Typical day in the life of school aged children: All Children
3 yrs to 10 yrs
11 yrs to 18 yrs
All Children
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