Stages of education system

Education system has come across a long way since it's origin. Present day education is much more structured than the previous eras, when the concept of formal education system was not developed. Education as defined can be the ability to reason, interpret and to put one's potential to a maximum use,thus helping one to make his decisions right and meaningful.
Education in general can be divided into four types:
i) Formal education, which can also be defined as a hierarchically structured and chronologically graded education system. It comprises of primary education, higher education and a full time professional training. It is also referred to as mainstream or traditional system of education.
ii) Adult education, which refers to the system of educating adults. This type of education system follows different forms like, self-directed learning, e-learning, and formal class based learning. These are mainly career based specific courses. Real estate license, medical billing, book keeping, etc are some common courses. Some of these courses are also available online.
iii) Alternative education,which is actually an alternative approach to the mainstream or traditional education. This system is often rooted in several philosophies which are different from formal education.
iv) Special education is applied for the students who require special learning skills and a special way of teaching, which are addressed through special education. This is a system where a child is first identified as one who requires a special way to learn, that is who cannot respond to the formal learning modes. He is then evaluated and on that basis his eligibility is determined and is ultimately subjected to the special type of education. This entire procedure was made with accordance to IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and finally an Individual Education Program was written and the plan had been carried out successfully and effectively.

Formal education can further be divided into four steps.
i) Nursery education or the before school education, it is the basic step of formal learning. It comprises of nursery school and kindergarten. It serves as a first link between home and the beginning of formal education. With the help of interaction and creative playful activities and mainly understanding a child's psychology, he is given education on how to develop basic skills. This serves for children between 3-5 years of age group.
ii) Primary education, also known as elementary education throws light on the first few years of a child after his kindergarten. It includes learning for 6-8 years starting at the age of 5-6 years. The basic age for starting the primary education varies from country to country. Most of the countries have made it compulsory for children to acquire primary education. The main aim of this stage is to pass on to the learners the knowledge in important subjects like mathematics, science, social science, environmental science, etc, apart from imparting basic literacy.
iii) Secondary education is the final stage of school education, which gives the students the transition from an all round primary education to an optional and selective form of studies. Thus the students tend to gather more knowledge and go in to the depths of the special subjects chosen by them.
iv) Higher or tertiary education comprises of undergraduate and postgraduate education along with vocational education. It is not mandatory form of education, but completion of this level opens up innumerable opportunities before the students.
Education, though is not the only mean to determine intelligence of an individual, but it is definitely one of the most important end, the end being success, and it plays an important role in making a person competent and able enough to take decisions and differentiate between his right or wrong.