Organisation of the education system in Iceland 2009/2010 IS European Commission EURYBASE ICELAND 1. Political, Social and Economic Background and Trends..........................................................7 1.1. Historical Overview .......................................................................................................7 1.1.1. The Current Political Scene......................................................................................8 1.2. Main Legislative and Executive Bodies............................................................................8 1.2.1. The President..........................................................................................................9 1.2.2. The Parliament .......................................................................................................9 1.2.3. Central Government .............................................................................................10 1.2.4. Local Government ................................................................................................10 1.3. Religions.....................................................................................................................11 1.4. Official and Minority Languages...................................................................................11 1.5. Demographic Situation ...............................................................................................12 1.5.1. Physical and Human Geography ............................................................................12 1.5.2. Population............................................................................................................12 1.5.3. Settlement Patterns ..............................................................................................13 1.6. Economic Situation .....................................................................................................13 1.6.1. Unemployment ....................................................................................................13 1.6.2. Production and Natural Resources .........................................................................13 1.7. Statistics .....................................................................................................................13 1.7.1. Area .....................................................................................................................14 1.7.2. Population............................................................................................................14 1.7.3. Rate of Unemployment by Sex and Age Groups......................................................15 1.7.4. Gross Domestic Product per Capita........................................................................15 1.7.5. Expenditure on Education .....................................................................................15 2. General Organisation of the Education System and Administration of Education ..................16 2.1. Historical Overview .....................................................................................................16 2.2. Ongoing Debates and Future Developments................................................................20 2.3. Fundamental Principles and Basic Legislation ...............................................................20 2.4. General Structure and Defining Moments in Educational Guidance................................21 2.5. Compulsory Education ................................................................................................22 2.6. General Administration ...............................................................................................23 2.6.1. General Administration at National Level ...................................................................23 2.6.2. General Administration at Regional Level ...............................................................25 2.6.3. General Administration at Local Level ....................................................................26 2.6.4. Educational Institutions, Administration, Management ...........................................27 2.7. Internal and External Consultation ...............................................................................30 2.7.1. Internal Consultation ............................................................................................30 2.7.2. Consultation involving Players in Society at large....................................................31 2.8. Methods of Financing Education..................................................................................33 2.8.1. Methods of Financing Pre-primary Education .........................................................34 2.8.2. Methods of Financing Compulsory Education.........................................................34 2.8.3. Methods of Financing Upper Secondary Education.................................................34 2.8.4. Methods of Financing Higher Education.................................................................34 2.8.5. Methods of Financing Continuing and Adult education ..........................................35 2.9. Statistics .....................................................................................................................35 2.9.1. Number of Schools and Pupils ...............................................................................35 2.9.2. Public Sector Expenditure .....................................................................................35 2.9.3. The 2009 State Budget ..........................................................................................36 3. Pre-Primary Education .......................................................................................................37 3.1. Historical Overview .....................................................................................................37 3.1.1. Education-oriented school institutions...................................................................38 3.1.2. Education-oriented non-school institutions............................................................38 3.1.3. Child-minders.......................................................................................................38 3.2. Ongoing Debates and Future Developments................................................................38 1 EURYBASE ICELAND 3.3. Specific Legislative Framework.................................................................................39 3.4. General Objectives ......................................................................................................39 3.5. Geographical Accessibility ...........................................................................................40 3.6. Admission Requirements and Choice of Institution/Centre............................................40 3.7. Financial Support for Pupils' Families ...........................................................................40 3.8. Age Levels and Grouping of Children ...........................................................................40 3.9. Organisation of Time...................................................................................................41 3.9.1. Organisation of the Year........................................................................................41 3.9.2. Weekly and Daily Timetable...................................................................................41 3.10. Curriculum, Types of Activity, Number of Hours ..........................................................41 3.11. Teaching Methods and Materials................................................................................43 3.12. Evaluation of Children ...............................................................................................44 3.13. Support Facilities.......................................................................................................44 3.14. Private Sector Provision .............................................................................................44 3.15. Organisational Variations and Alternative Structures...................................................45 3.16. Statistics ...................................................................................................................45 3.16.1. Pre-primary schools and attendance ....................................................................45 3.16.2. Child minders and children cared for by child minders ..........................................46 3.16.3. Personnel in pre-primary schools .........................................................................46 4. Single Structure Education.................................................................................................47 4.1. Historical Overview .....................................................................................................47 4.2. Ongoing Debates and Future Developements ..............................................................51 4.3. Specific Legislative Framework ....................................................................................51 4.4. General Objectives ......................................................................................................52 4.5. Geographical Accessibility ...........................................................................................52 4.6. Admission Requirements and Choice of School ............................................................53