| Education System in Martinique |
In the Caribbean island of Martinique, the system of education based on the French model is compulsory and free for children aged between 6 and 16. Of this 10-year mandatory period, the first 6 are spent at primary school.
The final 4 years of compulsory schooling take place at middle schools called colleges. A common academic curriculum is followed there.
Students interesting in going on the university complete their school education program by going on to lycées for a further 2 years, whereafter they could be awarded a Baccalauréat diploma.
Martinique’s young people with a more practical orientation have the option of attending vocational schools instead. Here they can acquire more practical professional knowledge, and perhaps return later for on-going adult education too.
Although many university students travel to France to complete their education (where some remain) there is also the Martinique campus of the University of the Antilles and Guiana in a suburb of Fort-de-France where a wide range of programs may be followed.
This forms part of the Academy of French Guiana. Other campuses include 2 in Guadeloupe, and 2 in French Guiana itself. Unfortunately the lovely island is unlikely to every afford a national university that it could call its own.
