Overview
The Jadali school year is unlike schooling in Kiillaana and Catarika in that it starts January 1st (or the first Monday if the 1st falls on the weekend), the year that children turn 5. This means that Jadali children start at the age of 4. While it would seem that Jadali starts school three months later than those in Kiillaana and Catarika, it really starts school eight months earlier.
History
The Original 13 spent the first five years of their new life building up Leena Eithre-Resa and Leena. The first child of the next generation was Kaèric Montàlo, born January 3, 1025. According to Isiador Freloch, as shown by Osai, the plan of education came into place and the year that Kaèric turned 5 he began formal schooling. As the country was still very young in 1030 he had innate mastery of many things and was mainly taught the ways of his parents and given opportunities to practice and choose the skills he wanted to develop fully, along with the other few children born that year. Over the next 50 years the population of Jadali increased exponentially and schools were beginning to be established everywhere. Not surprisingly, Kaèric Montàlo helped to develop the school system and was the first headmaster of Leena University, located just outside the walls of Dahsir Castle (which was in the process of completion in his lifetime) and was established as a place for boarding upperclassmen and those seeking education from the best in their fields. In addition he also helped establish smaller such schools in the other provinces. He lived to be 103 years old and fathered 19 children, many of whom adopted the Freloch crest. Of the 6 who didn’t, 4 left for Montàlo and two stayed and became teachers in Leena. The word “Kaèrich” became the word for Headmaster and the name “Kaèlan” was given to those who were strong and wise, leaving the root “Kaè” to mean wise and learned.
Class System
Starting with the birth of Kaèric Montàlo, a class began to be assigned to each year. This class number would stay with every student as they ascended throughout their 13 years of schooling. The year 2012 marks the 987th class (Class 001 is the year 1025). It is the class, not the year, that identifies someone's school age and it is common tradition to give school-related gifts like bookmarks, inkwells, and jewellery with the class number on it. Even students that go to Kiillaana for high school keep this class number which is honored.
Primary School
Children begin Year 1 when they are ages 4 turning 5. Primary school contains years 1-7 and students ages 4-11. These primary schools are located in each city or each capital city of the county (if the area is very remote, such as most of Ardin and areas of Hieldin and Montàlo). Here students learn the basics of reading, writing, math, history, imaginative play, and basic skills such as cooking, crafting, fishing, and construction. A variety of elective classes are available such as music, Kiillaanian Studies, weapons training, and astronomy. Most of these electives are compulsory to some degree with more in-depth classes offered for those who wish to develop those areas of interest. Each province has different focuses as well, based on traditions and location (i.e. Ardin has a stronger agricultural focus, Montàlo and Hieldin focus a lot on crafting warm clothing and Riedlore, Balthòr focuses a lot on trade, etc.).
Secondary School
Beginning in the 8th year (age 11/12), students attend secondary school. There are two types of schools that serve these students. The first is called Local Secondary School. These schools are located in each capital city of Lochgren, Lochmont, Freloch, and Balthòr and in each county of Montàlo, Hieldin, and Ardin. Being concentrated, these schools are much bigger and located on large, expansive campuses. The courses offered are more demanding and students are allowed to choose much more of what they would like to take, having many options under the required course subjects. Boarding is provided at every school but is more common in the schools of the more remote provinces. However, as Jadali is relatively small many students are able to travel to and from school each day by horse or ox; stables are provided.
Students who are interested in a narrower field of study or who want the experience may attend secondary school at the University of Leena which is classified as a boarding school. Located in Freloch northeast of Dahsir Castle and the Great Law Hall, this university campus hosts approximately 10,000 secondary students each year. Their classes are contained mainly in one large building but they have access to preparatory classes that take advantage of the specialty buildings dotted about the campus. Both types of secondary school contain years 8-13 with students graduating at the age of 17.
High School on the Mainland
Students that wish to go to high school in Kiillaana attend Local Secondary School and take mandatory Kiillaanian Studies and Kevian language classes in addition to their other studies, offered in Year 8 or Year 9 (if they decide later). They attend secondary school from years 8 through 11, leaving Year 11 after light term to begin the 9th grade. Because of the 8 month difference in school start times between Kiillaana and Jadali the cutoff for Jadali students is December 31 instead of August 31, making some Jadali students quite a bit younger than their peers.
There are two options for high school in Kiillaana. The first is Taleah High School, located in the capital of Jadali/Kiillaana affairs, Taleah. Between 80 and 100 Jadali students contribute to the THS student body spread across the 4 grades. A much smaller mainland school, located in Whaven, welcomes between 5 and 10 Jadali students to their student body each year. These students are treated like any other student in the Kiillaanian school system; the only major difference is those with birthdays after September 1st who are younger than their peers.
Students who attend schooling in Kiillaana do not take the ferry back and forth each day. Instead, they live with what is known as a sponsor, or a family that opens up their home for a student to stay for the year, much like an exchange student. Families have to meet certain criteria such as being above 30 years of age and having certain lifestyles. Obviously, they must also be willing to open their house for board. Families exempt from these rules are relatives of Jadali students and students moving in with people they already know. For the rest, they fill out a form with their likes and dislikes and are matched with a family. Many Taleah families make it a tradition to sponsor one or more students and most homes are built to accommodate this.
Terms
The Jadali school year is divided up into three terms of 4 months each. There are no big breaks in the school year; rather, these breaks are divided up and spread throughout. The last full week of every month consists of half days or independent study. There are small holidays here and there that are observed. A typical school day goes from 8 or 9 to about 5 in the evening with classes lasting about an hour each. There are a variety of programs including sports, music, arts, and social clubs that meet during free hours or after school. The weekends are free.
First Term, known as “Fresh Term,” runs from January through the last full week of April, with the last week of March off for Spring Holiday to coincide with THS and WHS being on spring break.
Second Term, known as “Light Term” or “Summer Term,” runs from May through the last week of August. During these four months course loads are considerably lighter, working their way from full days into half days beginning around June, transitioning to independent study/Summer Holiday in July and the beginning of August, and then transitioning back to half days in mid-August where they remain until the end of this term the last week of August. This gives students a chance to take advantage of programs that take place in summer and to have some time off along with those from Kiillaana who are on summer break.
Third Term, known as “Exams Term,” begins in September and runs to the third week of December. A lot of time is spent on studying and practicing for exams of various difficulty and importance depending on year. The last week of November is taken off in observance of Harvest Festival and the last two weeks of December are off except for exams.
University
After graduation at the age of 17 (or 18 if attending high school) students may, at any time, begin pursuing mastery of their chosen field either independently through work/apprenticeship or by attending University of Leena, the only university in Jadali. Those who attend University of Leena can study countless skills under the watchful eye and mentorship of the best teachers in the country. Most craft-type skills such as art, cooking, herblore, and history can be evaluated for mastery and double mastery on campus. For skills such as gardening, farming, sailing, and riedlore, a panel will travel to the location of the skiller for evaluation and certification.
Mastery
Mastery of a skill is a process that takes anywhere between three years for those with high levels of proficiency to around six years (or more if one is obtaining mastery while having another job, usually raising children). After mastery is certified, one can try and achieve double mastery, becoming a true high-tier master of their craft. Many of those who have achieved double mastery become teachers or outstanding icons in Jadali history. Double mastery takes lots of time and careful practice of the skill with only a handful of exceptions limited mostly to prodigies of the craft. Most who obtain double mastery do so between the ages of 30 and 40. It is quite possible to obtain mastery in multiple skills or studies although double mastery in two skills is quite rare unless said skills go together (i.e. riedlore/astrology hunting/craft: furs, or sailing/navigation).
List of Famous Double-Masters
- Danil Balthòr- Art: Metals
- Mera Visi- Herblore
- Iaso Montàlo- Art: Metals
- Aio Montàlo- Art: Metals
- Isli Loch- Herblore
- Rupert Freloch- Astronomy (with Mastery in Sailing)
- S. R. Sorela- Music Performance: Oboe and History: Jadali/Catin: Music
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