Inquista Passes Significant Education Reforms; Dashes Craticist Policies
July 29, 2022
Hope Mission Secondary School in Saint Dominico
The College of Bishops has passed very drastic educational reforms, which will alter primary and secondary school curriculums and scholastic approaches. The new education reforms, which are informed by "evidence-based educational outcomes", will notably streamline and expand mandatory subjects that all students will have to learn, thereby limiting their subject choices, but ultimately lead to what is being described as "comprehensive and well-rounded" educations.
Currently, the only mandatory classes in Inquistan secondary education (Grade 9 to 12) are English, Latin, and religion, which must be taken each year, with all other classes being subjects of choice made by individual students (with 8 subjects being taken each year, divided by 2 semesters). In Inquistan primary education (junior school from Grade 1 to 4, and middle school from Grade 5 to 8), mandatory classes include general science, maths, social studies (history and geography), English, Latin, religion, physical education, with only one additional subject chosen by personal choice (7 classes are taken year-round, with Latin and the option class alternating every other day).
Changes to secondary education will see maths, at least one science (of biology, chemistry, and physics), English, Latin or a modern foreign language, religion, and an art class (theatre, dance, choir, band, visual arts, graphic design, or fashion) becoming mandatory, with only two other subjects of personal choice being permitted per year. Primary education will become completely streamlined, following the same mandatory subjects as previous, but a choice of a modern foreign language will also become an alternative to Latin, and the one subject class will have to be an art class (primary art choices will only be limited to theatre, dance, choir, band, and visual arts).
Additionally, a 'homeroom' class will take place once a week before normal school time begins for the duration of primary and secondary school. In primary school, homeroom will primarily focus on free time for students to cultivate personal interests of their choice, build social relationships with other students, play games, and participate in activities that promote communal engagement and leadership. Starting in middle school (Grade 5), homeroom will also begin teaching sexual education (currently being taught in physical education class). In secondary education, homeroom will shift focus towards cultivating life skills and preparing students for life outside of the classroom, teaching students personal accounting and bookkeeping, home economics, career and further educational planning (for example, resume writing and interviewing workshops), advanced sexual education, and so on.
Furthermore, starting in middle school and continuous throughout secondary education, students will also be expected to enroll in at least one school-related extracurricular activity or club, such as a social or special interest club, a club relating to their art subject(s), or a competitive sport.
The reforms follow a 2-year long consultation and review process, which was launched shortly after Archbishop Kligenberg appointed her Church Secretariat. The Bishop Secretary of Education, Bishop Audrey Eaton, has spearheaded what she describes as "a thorough and extensive reworking of primary and secondary education, which was moulded by an exhaustive consultation of parents, educators, Inquistan education scholars and even leading international education experts from across Europe."
According to Bishop Secretary Eaton, the reforms are predominantly aimed at ensuring that Inquistan students develop "a wider and more comprehensive knowledge base and skillset, rather than a deeper and more specialist knowledge base and skillset. It's important that Inquistan graduates leave school with advanced Grade 12-level maths and numeracy skills, at least one science, and literacy and language skills, rather than allowing students to typically specialise and corner themselves in just mostly science, or humanities, or simply art-related classes."
The Bishop Secretary also emphasised the importance of the homeroom class, involving students in extracurricular activities, and in making at least one art class mandatory.
"Education isn't simply about informing and teaching students about their specific class subjects, but it's also about preparing students for life outside of the classroom. It's important that we set them up with skills that will prepare them for the 'real world', and it's important that they leave school feeling ready to tackle their adulthood. It's also important that they feel engaged as socially-involved members of their community, and that they also foster interests besides just school, with the chance to develop their creative talents. Creative talents are just as transferable as any other scholastic skill. Inquistan education isn't just seeking to develop scholars, it’s looking to help build fully-formed individuals, who also happen to be creatives and athletes."
More controversially, however, are reforms that will be softening Craticist-era educational policies, namely changes to the science curriculums, sexual education, and Latin classes.
Inquistan science curriculums have been lambasted by the Inquistan scientific community as only "roughly based on actual science", taking aim at Archbishop Craticus' implementation of a syncretic approach to science that prioritised traditional religious and moral teachings over the scientific consensus, namely including teaching theories of creationism in further depth than theories of evolution in science classes. The new science curriculums, however, scrap this syncretic approach, and only include evolution and "evidence-based and scientifically proven information" in courses, and explicitly omit the teaching of creationism within science classrooms. Creationism shall still be taught in religion classes, but "in a way that is congruent with evolution and in a way that is generally scientifically coherent."
Archbishop Mikaela Kligenberg moved to have the Inquistan Orthodox Church both acknowledge and accept evolution as the leading theory behind human development, but acknowledged that "evolution is a process that is only possible and originated with God's creation". Similarly, theories surrounding man-made contributions to climate change, acknowledged as a 'climate crisis' by the Archbishop and her Secretariat, will be included in science classrooms. The Secretariat for Environment and Climate Change earlier acknowledged in 2020 that "while Earth's climate has had historic heating and cooling periods, the current climate emergency has most certainly been forcefully exacerbated and very powerfully impacted by human activities."
"Inquista's school curriculums will be completely evidence-based and will teach precisely what the current and leading scientific consensus says," Bishop Secretary Eaton emphasised, which will also include sexual education.
Sexual education will start being taught in Grade 5, rather than in Grade 7, and will be explored in much further depth. Crucially, these classes will also be informed by the current scientific consensus, particularly surrounding contemporary understandings of sexual and gender identity expressions. Bishop Secretary Eaton further added that the new sexual education classes will be "completely comprehensive, and will be both inclusive of and relevant to those of a minority sexual or gender expression, who are currently being failed by sexual education systems. The Inquistan Orthodox Church maintains committed to equality in all facets of life, which includes education and health. The Church also maintains that LGBTQ people are made in God's image, and are equally worthy of living healthy and prosperous lives as anyone else."
Latin, Inquista's second official language, was introduced as a mandatory subject which all students had to take throughout their primary and secondary school years by Archbishop Craticus. The educational reforms now allow students to take a modern foreign language instead as an alternative of Latin if they so wish. Current popular foreign languages taken by students primarily consist of Spanish, Czech and Nicoleizian, but with these reforms, the Education Secretariat is hoping to see Inquistan students also learn other relevant foreign languages, such as French, Hassaniya (Sahrawi) Arabic and Hellenic.
With the reforms now passing the College of Bishops, they will take effect in the upcoming school new year, which begins on September 5th.