Sihian Education System
Education within the Starlit Court is handled largely in two ways; formal foundational Education taught by a mix of specialized fey and teachers via VR/AR, and a less formal apprenticeship/intern program. All members of the court are entitled and obligated to complete an education to a standard set by the Small Council of Educators (SCE for short).
The SCE
The Small Council of Educators is an agency that answers to a subcommittee of the Council of Elders that oversee education for the Starlit court. The SCE sets the final educational target and standard of education for primary and secondary educations and passes rules and standards for educational institutions like collages. The SEC determines the budget and compensation for educators, sages, and monks involved in the education system. They pass laws and protections for apprentices and mentors to prevent and punish abuses of authority and trust, and have the power to grant educator licenses to Sihians, fey, Sages and Monks.
Preschool and Primary School
The first stage in Sihian education is typically Preschool. Preschool is handled by small groups of expert educators, mostly focused on building social skills, and covers human equivalent ages of postnatal care to 6 depending on needs of parents. Preschool is optional, but highly encouraged both to give parents a safe and developmentally positive environment to leave their children.
Primary schooling students are grouped into classes with a shared guidance expert who guides the student for their full Primary schooling, and covers the human equivalent ages of 6 to 12. Classes are held in education centers on a daily schedule 5 days out of the week, and attendance is mandatory. Primary education is focused mostly on basic arithmetic, literacy, physical education, and teaching good life skills. The life skills taught at schools include teaching kids to cook, clean, basic responsibility, and basic household maintained.
Primary education also teaches the use and maintenance of starlit court technology, with a minor focus on encouraging students to explore their passions potential future careers. Classes take advantage of group dive sessions into VR/AR environments to familiarize students with fey and Maeve while having lessons taught by fey educators run tailored classes based on standardized goals.
Secondary School
Secondary school is less structured than Primary school. Students are assigned to classes of 50 which have weekly mandatory progress meetings. Secondary school students are within the human equivalent age ranges of 13 to 18, and will begin their apprenticeships. Each class has a single councilor who works with students to set and meet learning goals. The majority of classes are personalized AR/VR experiences that are lead by fey and professional educators. Students are encouraged by their councilor into joining and creating clubs and sporting activities to supplement educations and promote social activities. Councilors work with students to find and engage in apprenticeships that match the interests of students to help placement in future careers.
It is during this time that students are identified as squire candidates and are flagged and profiles given to knights/orders looking for squires. Students who wish to volunteer for men at arms and other military adjacent services begin equivalent of basic training near the end of secondary school. Students who shirk educational responsibilities are flagged as special interest, and potentially transferred to the supervision of delinquency specialists. Secondary schooling generally lasts until the student reaches their species age of majority, but it can be ended early or extended depending on academic achievement, special consideration for economic situation, and emotional maturity of the student based on the discretion of the councilor
Tertiary Education
Formal tertiary or higher education largely consists of adults earning certifications and licenses to practice their chosen career, and is typically taught via mentorship or collegiate organizations set up or maintained by guilds and orders to maintain a high level of proficiency and skill in a field. Sihians have the right to continue their education at their own discretion, and never lose access to the tools granted to them during their secondary education. Post education classes are often cheap as the systems they use are heavily subsidized by the court, and often taught by volunteer monks and sages. Typically these classes will charge a small nominal fee for the time of the educator, though gifts and tips given to educators are considered a polite way of showing one’s appreciation for the imparted wisdom of the teacher. These gifts are also often seen as a way to curry favor or ply an educator into giving a better outcome on grading or progress reviews. Learning and honing one's mind is culturally seen as a righteous and good thing, and is often connected with the idea of mindfully walking The Starlit Path or the virtues of Unity and Diligence.
Many orders and guilds establish and support collages to centralize the education process of prospective peers and to shorten the time required of an apprenticeship. The distribution of official licenses and certifications are handled by respected and elder members of orders and guilds who act in accordance to guidelines set by the Small Council of Educators. The requirements to earn a license or certification varies depending on one's career, though typically require the prospect to have completed a number of years as an apprentice, the completion of a practical or written exam, or the completion of a thesis project in an allotted time frame.
Private Education
Private schools and institutions do exist within Sihian society but are in the minority. Some guilds, orders, and private groups choose to create and support private schools and educational centers to teach youths from juvenile to adulthood. Several knightly orders maintain schools to provide specialized fine tuned education for prospective squires from childhood. Students in these institutions are often drawn from the families of knights or directly singled out by individual knights for their potential. Privately owned and operated schools provide further tailored learning for their students and address ideological and philosophical concerns of the students parents. Private schools are subsidized by the court, but still often charge for their services, and must still conform to and meet the educational standards as set forth by the SCE.
Home schooling is not uncommon, parents/guardians may apply to act as their child’s counselor. Guardians acting as a student’s counselor must send regular reports to the SCE at the same intervals as a standard SCE. Guardians in this situation are given a catalog of fey, sages/monks, and other educators affiliated with the SCE to assist in educating their child. Guardians hiring these educators are within their rights to impose restrictions or special focuses for their child’s education. Educators hired this way are free to end their contracts with the parent if they disagree with restrictions placed on the student’s education, and are obligated to report any signs of abuse to the SCE. Guardians may opt to be the soul educators for their child, though if the student does not meet the required educational milestones as set by the SCE homeschooling status may be repealed.
In recent years The Cherryblossom Court has emerged as a popular learning tool among knights, and there has been a push among many knights and educators to integrate existing learning tools with emerging Cherrblossom court, or to integrate the use of the Cherryblossom Court into general Sihian Education.