Training
The school system has a British model. School compulsory school rules apply from the age of 5 up to 15 years. Most children attend school and reading and writing skills are high.
Most children go to preschool for two years from the age of 3, especially as they are expected to have basic writing and reading skills when they start school.
- COUNTRYAAH: Country facts of Trinidad and Tobago, including geography profile, population statistics, and business data.
Schooling begins with a first seven-year stage followed by another three plus two years. The first stage is completed with a degree exam that governs which school the student will continue to.
All state education is free of charge. There are also private schools, often religiously based, that charge fees but have some state funding. Expenses for, among other things, school books are burdensome for some families.
The largest university is the regional University of the West Indies, which since 1960 has one of its four campuses in Trinidad and Tobago, in Saint Augustine. Since 2004, there is also the State University of Trinidad and Tobago which focuses on technical education. The small, private University of the Southern Caribbean run by Seventh-day Adventists since 1927 has branches in several other Caribbean countries. Higher education is also given at several smaller, private or government institutions.
- Educationvv: Provides school and education information in Trinidad and Tobago, covering middle school, high school and college education.
FACTS – EDUCATION
Proportion of children starting primary school
95.2 percent (2010)
Number of pupils per teacher in primary school
18 (2009)
Reading and writing skills
96.9 percent (1990)
Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP
13.9 percent (2003)
Public expenditure on education as a percentage of the state budget
13.9 percent (2003)
