Schooling in Corus

In Tortall, free schooling has been provided for all children, regardless of birth or financial standing. For the most part, it is obligatory for children to attend up until their early teens, though there are those that do not. Most parents want their kids to get some schooling, as it increases their chances for finding a better place in the world. Some parents, however, do not wish for their children to attend the schools, and instead keep them home to work, or sell them off to slavers.

History
When Queen Thayet the Peerless married the Conté king Jonathan IV, one of her first acts as Queen was to establish free schools for everyone, regardless of origin or status. Ever since, free schools have been open to the public, and public education is available to any child. Who runs these schools has changed over the years, but currently, the Mithran priests are in charge of teaching and running the schools.

Organization
The schools of Corus are run by Mithran priests, most of which were trained in the City of the Gods. Depending on which district, there may be anywhere from one to six schools. The Highfields and Lower City Districts both have a single school, though the former has two others that are no longer functioning. The Craftsmans District, being the largest and most densely populated district, can proudly boast having six schools.

Because the schools are in the city, and because they are run by the Mithran temple, the Corus public schools have a set schedule day to day. The typical school day begins at eight in the morning, and lets the children out at around three in the afternoon.

The number of priests in a school depends on the number of children. At the minimum, they have at least four teachers: one for History, one for Writing, one for Mathematics, and one for Religion/Magic. If there are a large amount of students, there may be more than one teacher for each subject. There may even be separate teachers for Religion and Magic, though this is rare. In wealthier districts that have larger donations, there are even Mithrans who teach more exalted subjects such as Geography or Foreign Languages. Occasionally, a Shang warrior might come in and teach the children basic self defense tactics to help them get away from kidnappers and slavers.

Getting to School
Most parents do not wish to walk their children to and from school everyday, and in the past, this prevented many children from attending. These days, either a Mithran priest escorts the children to their neighborhoods, or, more commonly, the kids walk together. Typically, groups include older children to protect the younger kids, though most older kids don't want to walk the younger folks to school. In some groups, two or more older kids are assigned to escort the kids. The names aren't always the same, and the escorts are rotated from week to week to keep the older children from growing disgruntled. Volunteers are accepted first, but if there are no volunteers, names are drawn.

As a note, the Rogue's Youth often sends older teenagers to guard the small children.

Attendance
Children usually beginning attending school between the ages of five or six, and depending on where they live, how much funding the district schools get, and what sort of opportunities they have, most kids stay in school until around twelve years of age. Some never attend, while others might skip out or be pulled out by their parents. Common reasons for this are parents wanting their kids to work and bring in money for the family as soon as possble, or kids finding more interesting things to do, such as work for the rogue or a business. Indeed, children in the Craftsmans District in particular usually wind up leaving school earlier due to their apprenticeships. Conversely, the more dedicated students might attend up until the age of sixteen.

Opportunities
The students that the Mithrans find most promising have sometimes recieved grants to attend the Royal University. Typically, these students are those that have attending school for as long as possible. If these such students do not make it into the university, they are often able to land jobs as scribes for various businesses or other.