<P> Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right of citizens who were educated in the minority language in a particular province to have their children educated in the minority language in publicly funded schools . In practice, this guarantee means that there are publicly funded English schools in Quebec, and publicly funded French schools in the other provinces and the territories . </P> <P> Quebec students must attend a French school up until the end of high school unless one of their parents qualifies as a rights - holder under s. 23 of the Charter . In Ontario, French language schools automatically admit students recognized under section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and may admit non-francophone students through the board's admissions committee consisting of the school principal, a school superintendent and a teacher . </P> <P> Most education programs in Canada begin in kindergarten (age five) or grade one (age six) and go to grade twelve (age 17 or 18), except in Quebec, where students finish a year earlier . After completion of a secondary school diploma, students may go on to post-secondary studies . </P> <P> Normally, for each type of publicly funded school (such as Public English or Public French), the province is divided into districts (or divisions). For each district, board members (trustees) are elected only by its supporters within the district (voters receive a ballot for just one of the boards in their area). Normally, all publicly funded schools are under the authority of their local district school board . These school boards would follow a common curriculum set up by the province the board resides in . Only Alberta allows public charter schools, which are independent of any district board . Instead, they each have their own board, which reports directly to the province . </P>

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