Dominica

Education is free and is provided by both government and denominational schools. Attendance is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 15 years. The educational system is divided into four main categories: preprimary, primary, secondary, and tertiary and is governed by the Ministry of Education. The system is modeled after the British (levels) and North American (grade) structures. Primary education begins at the age of five and lasts for seven years. Secondary education begins at the age of twelve and lasts for five years. Gross enrollment in 1999 at the preschool and primary level for children aged 5 to 11 was 15,982. Gross enrollment at the secondary level was 7,356 in 1999. Females accounted for 47.1 percent of enrollment in 2000 at the primary level and 57.0 percent of enrollment at the secondary level. The grading system (1997) for both primary and secondary schools is as follows: Excellent (85 percent to 100 percent); Very Good (70 percent to 84 percent); Good (55 percent to 69 percent); Improvement Needed (40 percent to 54 percent); Poor (26 percent to 39 percent); Ungraded (0 percent to 25 percent).

The educational system of Dominica consists of:

• 83 preprimary schools—all privately owned, managed, and funded;
• 63 primary schools—53 are government-owned, 5 are government-assisted, and 5 are private;
• 15 secondary schools—6 are government-owned, 8 are government-assisted, and 1 private-grant aided;
• 1 school for the hearing impaired (governmentfunded);
• 1 school for the mentally challenged (privately and government-funded); and
• Clifton Dupigny Community College; Dominica Teachers Training College; and Princess Margaret Hospital School of Nursing.