Topic: Compulsory education: from what age to what age — and whose duty is it
How does Brazil mark Compulsory education: from what age to what age — and whose duty is it?
Everyday topic
Brazil's compulsory span is the widest of the seven. Article 208(I) of the constitution, in the wording given by the 59th amendment of 2009, provides that basic education from four to seventeen years of age shall be obligatory and free, with free provision guaranteed also to those who did not have access at the proper age. Fourteen years — beginning earlier than any of the other six (at four, already inside pre-school) and ending later than most (at seventeen, covering all of secondary). The opening of the article is worth noticing too: the subject of Article 208 is the duty of the State towards education, and the article lists what the State must guarantee in order to discharge that duty. Brazil's formulation is therefore neither "the citizen has a duty" (China) nor "the parent has a duty" (Japan) but the State has a duty, and the content of the duty is enumerated item by item. That structure turns compulsory education in Brazil into a checkable list of state obligations rather than merely a span of years.
What is this topic?
Taiwan's Compulsory Education Act sets six to fifteen, nine years, and leaves compulsory enrolment itself to a separate statute. Brazil's Article 208, as amended in 2009, runs from four to seventeen — the widest span of the seven. India's Article 21A covers six to fourteen and sits in the Part on fundamental rights, so it can be taken to court. Indonesia's Article 31(2) puts the duty on both sides at once: the citizen must attend basic education and the government must pay for it, with a further clause reserving at least twenty per cent of the budget for education. Japan's Article 26 places the duty on parents. China's Article 46 makes education a right and a duty in the same sentence. The United States has no federal rule at all: each state sets its own start and end ages.
Sources and dates
Dates follow local time zones, calendars, and official notices. Check the source when a date is estimated or locally variable.