Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at other places.
Compulsory school attendance or compulsory schooling means that parents are obliged to send their children to a certain school.
All countries except Bhutan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vatican City have compulsory education.
Purpose
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, most schools in the United States did not mandate regular attendance. In many areas, students attended school for no more than three to four months out of the year.
At the start of the 20th century, the purpose of compulsory education was to master physical skills which are necessary and can be contributed to the nation. It also instilled values of ethics and social communications abilities in teenagers, it would allow immigrants to fit in the unacquainted society of a new country. It is mostly used to advance the education of all citizens, minimize the number of students who stop going to school because of family economic reasons, and balance the education differences between rural and urban areas.
The overall correlation between the level of access to education in a country and the skills of its student population is weak. This disconnect between education access and education quality may be the consequence of weak capacity to implement education policies or lack of information on the part of policymakers on how to promote student learning. In other situations, governments might be intentionally motivated to provide education for reasons that have nothing to do with improving the knowledge and skills of citizens. On the other hand, in countries with a republican system of government, being educated is necessary and important for every citizen.
Throughout history, compulsory education laws have typically been the latest form of education intervention enacted by states. In general, governments in Europe and Latin America began to intervene in primary education an average of 107 years before democratization as measured by Polity. Compulsory education laws, despite being one of the last measures introduced by central governments seeking to regulate primary education, nevertheless were implemented an average of 52 years before democratization as measured by Polity and 36 years before universal male suffrage.
Historically, there is a trend of mass education being introduced in the aftermath of civil wars. According to a 2022 study, nondemocracies frequently introduced mass education to teach obedience and respect for authority.
History
Antiquity to medieval times
Compulsory education was not unheard of in ancient times. However, instances are generally tied to royal, religious or military organizations—substantially different from modern notions of compulsory education.
Plato's The Republic (c. 424–c. 348 BCE) is credited with having popularized the concept of compulsory education in Western intellectual thought. Plato's rationale was straightforward. The ideal city would require ideal individuals, and ideal individuals would require an ideal education. The popularization of Plato's ideas began with the wider Renaissance and the translation of Plato's works by Marsilio Ficino (1434–1499), culminating in the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, known for his own work on education (including Emile, or On Education), said, 'To get a good idea of public education, read Plato's Republic. It is not a political treatise, as those who merely judge books by their title think, but it is the finest, most beautiful work on education ever written.'
In Sparta boys between the age 6 and 7 left their homes and were sent to military school. School courses were harsh and have been described as a "brutal training period". Between the age of 18 and 20, Spartan males had to pass a test that consisted of fitness, military ability, and leadership skills. A student's failure meant a forfeiture of citizenship () and political rights. Passing was a rite of passage to manhood and citizenry, in which he would continue to serve in the military and train as a soldier until the age of 60 when the soldier could retire to live with his family.