From: "Dana Shilling" dshilling@worldnet.att.net 5. Which brings up the question of whether the schools have "grades" or "forms," "high schools" or "comprehensives," "colleges" or "universities."

Also on how important the authorities believed training/education to be to particular groups or individuals, and how they might've tested people for certain forms of training/education. Vila says, in Stardrive, that he was thirteen, I think (someone with more time will look this up, I'm sure, and thankyou to whoever does), when he was on a penal ship that collided with an asteroid. But he also claimed that he did something to gain his lower-grade status, suggesting that in the Federation they might have started testing children for career possibilities rather early.

Depending upon how Orwellian you believe the Fed authorities to be, it could even go back into early childhood, especially if the results showed possibilities for the future, and not only career ones necessarily. One might wonder how the children who were brainwashed to provide the evidence against Blake were chosen, outside of possible reasons such as their parents owing someone a few favours, for instance.

This is a bit of tangent to Dana's question, sorry, and I'll give my speculation now. My thought is that they may refer simply to primary, secondary and tertiary education, and they may well have "streams" filled according to how the individuals involved tested. If they don't just decide according to the parents' social level, and change their minds if the pupil showed some particular aptitude, of course.

Regards Joanne

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