How does education work in the Star Wars galaxy?

Question

In Star Wars, there are only a few mentions of educational institutions. There is the Imperial Academy that Han Solo was expelled from and that Luke wanted to attend, and there is also the Jedi Padawan system (training temples, trials, etc.). Outside of these examples, is there any form of standardized education in the galaxy?

• Are most people in the Star Wars galaxy homeschooled or taught by informal, private tutors?
• Is there a widespread (e.g. Republic-wide, Empire-wide, etc., or even beyond) standardized system or hierarchy of general (e.g. reading, math, history, droid reprogramming, etc.) educational qualifications (e.g. diplomas, degrees) that people with enough time, money and skills can go for?
• Are educational qualifications planet-specific? E.g. an Advanced Tatooine Education Blue Ribbon Diploma might mean nothing on Corellia, while the Corellian Mastery Certificate of Literacy would likewise not get you very far on Tatooine.

In other words, what does it mean for an average galactic resident to "get an education"? Does it mean attending a high school or university in a roughly analogous way to our own world? Does it consist mostly of self-studying in order to pass standardized galaxy-wide examinations? Is "education" whatever one can scrounge up and essentially nothing more?

Obviously, people in the Star Wars universe are not completely ignorant of things - they can usually function reasonably well in the settings they live in - they can speak local languages, use common components, engage in a trade, etc. Where do they learn this stuff?

Answer 1

Partial Answer

Although there is not much known about primary education (I was not able to find information on this area) there is a large amount on education above 12/13. There are a number of examples of secondary education establishments that exist on planets throughout the Star Wars galaxy that provide education in various areas including:

• Agricultural academies for training Agriculture workers, such as the Tatooine Agricultural Academy (not much else known.)
• Military academies for training future soldiers and pilots
• Univerisities (for given planets)

Further reading:

Military Academies

A number of planets had military academies, especially during the reign of the Empire. These academies trained students from around 16~ to becoming stormtroopers, Officers and Pilots. An example can be the Academy for Young Imperials on Lothal that initialed training for junior recruits to become Stormtroopers and other Imperials. In addition to Academies for training Stormtroopers and other ground personal, there were flight academies that trained Pilots. An on-screen example can be the Skystrike Academy also seen in Star Wars Rebels. There is also the academy that Han Solo attended (in Legends), the Academy of Carida.

Universities

Many planets had universities that taught a wide variety of subjects ranging from medicine and engineering to art. Prominent Universities included:

• The University of Alderaan (destroyed by the Death Star)
• Theed University, on Naboo (Where Darth Sidious attended before going into politics.)
• The University of Coruscant (Legends)

Please note that I have not spoken about any Jedi or Sith Academies, as these fall outside the reach of most citizens, that is unless you are force sensitive.

Answer 2

Partial answer: in The Mandalorian Chapter 12: The Siege, we see that there's a small elementary-level school set up on Nevarro in a former cantina, taught by a droid:

While the episode doesn't address the prevalence of similar institutions around the galaxy, it's possible that this is a common arrangement.