Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to specific professions are generally taught.
History
Lyceum is a Latin rendering of the Ancient Greek Λύκειον, the name of a gymnasium in Classical Athens dedicated to Apollo Lyceus. This original lyceum is remembered as the location of the peripatetic school of Aristotle. Some countries derive the name for their modern schools from the Latin but use the Greek name for the ancient school: for example, Dutch has lykeion and lyceum, both rendered lyceum in English.The name lycée was retrieved and utilized by Napoleon in 1802 to name the main secondary education establishments. From France the name spread in many countries influenced by French culture.
By country
Asia
India
The Goa Lyceum in Panaji, Goa – established in 1854, following the Portuguese model – was the first public secondary school in the state, then a Portuguese territory. Later, the Goa Lyceum received the official title of Liceu Nacional Afonso de Albuquerque. The Christ University Lyceum in Bengaluru, Karnataka - established in 2021, where scholars sit and do their research work and have discussion.Philippines
The Philippines follows its version of the K-12 system, where the term junior high school might be used instead of lyceum. However, there are schools that appropriate the word lyceum in their name. The Lyceum of the Philippines University is a university in Manila established by former wartime president José P. Laurel. Among its notable alumni are former president Rodrigo Duterte, popular author Rene Villanueva, and actor Cesar Montano. LPU has campuses in Makati, Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, and Davao.The Filipino word for lyceum is liseo from Spanish liceo which can be found in some names of various universities and educational institutions which are unaffiliated with LPU.
Sri Lanka
, popularly known as Lyceum and its students as Lyceumers, is the largest International School network in Sri Lanka providing all pre-primary, primary and secondary education. Lyceum also holds the title as the largest school in Sri Lanka with over 25,000 students and 3,300 teachers and staff.Lyceum International School was founded by Dr. Mohan Lal Grero in 1993, to foster all-round development through English-medium learning in Sri Lanka. At its inception, Lyceum International School had only seven students and four teachers. The school's motto is derived from the Ancient Greek aphorism "Know thyself".
Uzbekistan
Lyceums also emerged in the former Soviet Union countries after they became independent. One typical example is Uzbekistan, where all high schools were replaced with lyceums, offering a three-year educational program with a certain major in a certain direction. Unlike Turkey, Uzbek lyceums do not hold university entrance examinations, which gives students the right to enter a university, but they hold a kind of mock examination which is designed to test their eligibility for a certain university.Europe
Albania
The Albanian National Lyceum was a high school in the city of Korçë, Albania, that emphasized French culture and European values. The school fully functioned with a French cultural emphasis from 1917 to 1939. The school was continued post World War II as the Raqi Qirinxhi High School.Belarus
The Belarusian Humanities Lyceum is a private secondary school founded shortly after Belarus' independence from the USSR by intellectuals, such as Vincuk Viacorka and Uladzimir Kolas, with the stated aims of preserving and promoting native Belarusian culture, and raising a new Belarusian elite. It was shut down in 2003 by the Ministry of Education of Belarus allegedly for promoting enmity within Belarusian society and using the classroom as a political soapbox, indoctrinating students with biased views on history, ideology, politics, morality and values. The lyceum eventually switched to homeschooling with a limited number of underground homeschoolers.Czech Republic
The term lyceum refers to a type of secondary education consisting of anywhere from four years ended by graduation. It is a type of schooling between grammar school and a technical high school. For example, the famous scientist Gerty Cori went to a lyceum school.Finland
The concept and name lyceum entered Finland through Sweden. Traditionally, lycea were schools to prepare students to enter universities, as opposed to the typical, more general education. Some old schools continue to use the name lyceum, though their operations today vary. For example, Helsinki Normal Lyceum educates students in grades 7–12, while Oulu Lyceum enrolls students only in grades 10–12. The more commonly used term for upper secondary school in Finland is lukio in Finnish and gymnasium in Swedish.France
The French word for an upper secondary school, lycée, derives from Lyceum.Germany
The lyceum in Germany was known as an old term for a Gymnasium for girls. In Bavaria it was also a Hochschule to study theology and philosophy.Greece
In Greece, Λύκειο refers to a type of upper secondary education school for students aged 15 to 18 or 20. The lyceum school first grade admitted students can have a maximum age up to 20 years old.Government Gazette 83Α'/11.05.2016"> "Regulations for Research and other provisions" "Restructuring of Secondary Education and other provisions". Provisions for the transformation of Upper Secondary Schools of General and Vocational, Vocational Training Institutes and Special Education structures. Evening lyceum is both for adult and underage working students, and lasts three years as of the 2020–2021 academic year, per Law 4547/2018. The lyceum awards the Απολυτήριο, apolytirio or apolyterio, which is the upper secondary education leaving certificate.Upper secondary school (lyceum)
- Ειδικό Λύκειο
- Πρότυπο Λύκειο
- Μουσικό Λύκειο
- Καλλιτεχνικό Λύκειο
- Πειραματικό Λύκειο
- Γενικό Λύκειο
- Γενικό Λύκειο Διαπολιτισμικής Εκπαίδευσης
- Eπαγγελματικό Λύκειο
- Εσπερινό Γενικό Λύκειο
- Εσπερινό Επαγγελματικό Λύκειο
- Ενιαίο Ειδικό Επαγγελματικό Γυμνάσιο-Λύκειο
- Γενικό Εκκλησιαστικό Λύκειο
Defunct upper secondary school (lyceum)
- Αθλητικό Λύκειο
- Ενιαίο Λύκειο
- Τεχνικό Λύκειο
- Επαγγελματικό Λύκειο
- Γυμνάσιο
- Ενιαίο Πολυκλαδικό Λύκειο
- Τεχνικό Επαγγελματικό Λύκειο
- Τεχνικό Επαγγελματικό Εκπαιδευτήριο
Hungary
In contemporary Hungarian, the most ubiquitous word for these institutions is gimnázium, but líceum lives on as an archaizing word referring to schools of high prestige and revered traditions, most notably Calvinist boarding schools.
Italy
The lyceum is considered by most the hardest and most prestigious kind of secondary school in Italy.The term liceo refers to a number of upper secondary school, which last five years and are specialized in teaching philosophy, ancient Greek and Latin, but also maths, physics, trigonometry, biology and chemistry. It gives preparation for university.
It is divided into six different branches, each one specialized in certain subjects:
- Liceo classico is the most various between them but is known for focusing on history, literature, philosophy, ancient Greek and Latin.
- Liceo scientifico focuses on maths, physics, biology and chemistry.
- Liceo linguistico focuses almost entirely on a certain number of languages and their literatures. Each school can decide which language to teach, but Italian and English are always present.
- Liceo artistico focuses on arts history and practical arts.
- Liceo delle scienze umane focuses on the human sciences such as psychology, anthropology, sociology and pedagogy and on the study of history and philosophy.
- Liceo musicale e coreutico focuses on musical performance.
Latvia
In 1989, during the Latvian National Awakening, the Pushkin Lyceum of Riga with education programs in Russian was established.
In 2002, another Russian lyceum was established in Daugavpils, renamed to Daugavpils High School of Technologies in 2020.
Lithuania
Some gymnasiums are called licėjus, e.g. Vilnius Lyceum.Malta
Junior lyceums refer to secondary education state owned schools.Republic of Moldova
Until recently, in the Republic of Moldova the lyceum – called liceu – was an educational institution where students studied from the first to the twelfth grade and would obtain the baccalaureate degree upon completion. In most cases, the lyceums were specialized in a particular domain that was relevant to the personality whose name the institution bore. In other respects, it was little different from any regular school, with the exception of slightly higher education standards and supposedly being more prestigious.After 2010, regular schools were all formally reformed into lyceums, although their quality remained of the same level as before and most did not get any particular specialization, thereby being dubbed 'theory lyceums'. One reason for the 2010 reform was to reduce the influence of the Soviet/Russian educational system and/or mentality in Moldova.