The name “Canada” originally came from a First Nations’ word “kanata” which means village. Later, European map producers simplified it to “Canada” to identify all the land north of the St. Lawrence River. In 1965, the nation adopted the red and white flag with the maple leaf as their official flag. It was In 1867 when Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia formed a confederation, and on July 1, 1867, the British North America Act declared Canada a country. Here in Canada, education is administered, supported and managed by federal, provincial, and local governments. It’s system is within provincial jurisdiction and the curriculum is overseen by the province. Allow me to discuss the levels of education in Canada.   Generally, it is divided into three major stages:  First is the Elementary Level which comprises the Primary and the Public School, then we have the Secondary or  the High School and finally, the Post Secondary, which can either be in the University or in a  College. Each province has district school boards carrying out the educational programs under the ministry of education.   Education is imperative up to an age of 16. For each year, Canada primarily has 190 school days (of course notwithstanding the cancellation of classes due to weather disruptions or insurgences. The classes officially opens at September which is after Labour Day and ends on June which is usually the last Friday of the month, while it is on a Wednesday in the Catholic Schools of Ontario. Most Canadian education systems continue up to grade twelve which normally have the ages seventeen to eighteen. In Quebec, the typical high school term ends after Secondary V, the same as to grade eleven which falls under the ages sixteen to seventeen; following this, students who wish to continue their studies to the university level are required to turn up in the CEGEP (A French acronym which stands for Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel which means: “College of General and Vocational Education”).   Sources: _________________1.     Education In Canada: Internet page: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Education_in_Canada. Retrieved on November 26, 20072.     An Introduction to Canada: Internet page: http://www. coibs. com/english/canintro. html. Retrieved on November 26, 2007