## Overview --- The Transelman Academy System is the [[Transelman Church of Saints|Transelman Church]]-affiliated network of nursery, primary, secondary and tertiary schools in [[Transelmany]]. Each diocese in the Transelmany has a set of academies that offer instruction in all levels of education. As not all students want to become [[Apostles of the Transelman Church of Saints|Apostles]], after academy graduation most pursue either higher education or employment in one of the country's industries. As Transelmany is a centrally-planned socialist republic, these schools are the only educational institutions that exist in the country, and with the exception of the Space Institute (formerly known as the Royal Academy) all were created after the [[History of Transelmany — Foundation & Protracted Rebellion (648-658 AL)|Protracted Rebellion]]. They are free and open to all children as opposed to charging a tuition and pricing out most of the population. They would also be open to students with weaker flux, providing instruction in various disciplines with the aim of creating well-rounded citizens. ## Background --- The Transelman Academy System was conceived in the months after the [[History of Transelmany — Foundation & Protracted Rebellion (648-658 AL)#651 AL|Proclamation of Transelmany]] in 651 AL, during the [[History of Transelmany — Foundation & Protracted Rebellion (648-658 AL)|Protracted Rebellion]]. It was proposed by Bishop Zainab Garba that a new infrastructure for education free of pre-revolutionary monarchist influence be created in the new republic. [[Yemisi Fayowa|Fayowa]] agreed, citing the need for the so-called ‘maroon’ citizens of tomorrow to replace the ‘cyan’ citizens of yesterday. The first new facility was opened on 3 Ustala 568 AL, in the town of Saxburg, [[Church of Space|Space Diocese]]. More facilities started to pop up throughout the mountain region of South Elmany where the [[Voromiraka]] had the full trust of the people. Only a few opened further south, and this process was eventually slowed (but not fully halted) by the [[Transelman Civil War]]. After the war, the number of facilities exploded, and the first two were built in the newly-incorporated [[The Green|Green Autonomous Diocese]], with special permissions allowing them to maintain their own specialized Green curriculum and use distinct uniforms from the nationwide standard. ## Uniforms --- ![[transelman_uniforms.png|400]] *Academy student uniforms.* Academy students wear uniforms bearing the colors of the Transelman flag, maroon and black. Regardless of diocese, all academy uniforms bear the gold trim and badge of the [[Church of Light (Transelmany)|Church of Light]]. ## Staff --- Academy staff is exclusively made up of professional teachers, and not church apostles. This was critical for Bishop Garba early on, because she stressed the need to avoid the appearance of *overt* indoctrination of young children by the Church. By simply facilitating the educational process (and of course, designing the curriculum) they could maintain an air of separation between the Church and classroom, and earn the trust of parents, a key difference from the monarchy’s hands-on instructional methods. ## Curriculum --- Every academy student follows the same curriculum nationwide, with the only minor differences being the vocational studies on offer to them, such as mining in the [[Church of Stone|Stone Diocese]], or farming in the [[Church of Water|Water Diocese]]. - Nursery cycle: 3 years (ages 3-5) - Primary cycle: 6 years (ages 6-11) - Junior secondary cycle: 3 years (ages 12-14) - Senior secondary cycle: 3 years (ages 15-17) - Tertiary cycle: 4 years (ages 18-21) Initially, the system covered from the nursery until secondary levels of education, with pre-schooling usually done at local centers administered by regional workers. Eventually, when the Royal Academy (officially renamed the Space Institute, but still known to most by its old name) alone could no longer meet the demands of now much higher-educated Transelman populace, the decision was taken to expand the academy system to higher education. Because the Royal Academy had been a private school, it was ill-equipped to sustain the much larger student bodies of the public schools that were now standard nationwide. Its burden was eased by the construction of three new colleges at the Point, Port Mera, Yola and Sylens. Since the Royal Academy’s leadership was purged before the Civil War, it has relaxed admissions standards from what they used to be, but it is still more selective than the other colleges, privileging only the highest levels of academic excellence. After graduation at 17, about half of the students typically enter a vocation of their choosing, another third or so tend to pursue higher education, and the remaining attempt the Apostle Exams, in the hopes of joining the Church. Students can actually enter the Apostle Exams after their first year of senior secondary education, usually at the age of 15; but few are strong enough to be chosen at that age, so it’s rare that the student body is ever massively depleted. ## Legacy --- The Transelman Academy System has been a resounding success. When the Proclamation of Transelmany was made in 651 AL, only about 12% of South Elmany was literate, and only 1 in 5 children regularly attended any schools. Today, education is universal and literacy is estimated at >99%. Transelman children are secure in the knowledge that any of the academies in their diocese are held to the same standards as the rest if the country, and graduation bestows equal opportunity for future work in any field, and a place at any of the state colleges besides the Royal.