How come this category is called primary and secondary education?

Question

The majority of this world uses elementary education. Not all schools call themselves secondary schools. Others will call themselves a senior high school. And another will call themselves a high school. Is secondary school like the neutral term for all of the names? Is there a reference for this? Secondary school in my dictionary only means a school coming after elementary school, comprising grades 7,8 or 9 through 12. Senior high schools don't come after an elementary school, so technically it's not a secondary school. But many senior high schools still call themselves a secondary school when technically they aren't one. Primary education is only used in the UK and some other countries so that means that the majority uses elementary education. I think that this category should be renamed to reflect the majority in this world.

Answer 1

Where you get this opinion from. This is a very basic term and is used to simplify the 2 different terms of schools. While not everyone understands english as well as your American language but everyone knows what primary (first) and Secondary (second) means. I have never heard of the term elementary except when Sherlock Holmes uses it to talk to Dr Watson. 'Elementary mydear Watson' Now this term is certainly does not relate to Schools as well as Primary. Do you understand why it is done now.

Answer 2

This refers to schools in the United States of America
Primary usually refers to the early school grades, such as kindergarten through 2nd or 3rd grades. This would be for students from about 5 to eight years. Sometimes a preschool may also be included, which is usually for children aged three and four.

Elementary or grade school means the early grade and the middle grades, usually through grade six or eight, or ages five through 12 or 14.

Then you have middle schools and junior high schools. Middle schools are usually grades 5-8 and are followed by high school. If you have an elementary or grade school that goes through the 8th grade, then it is followed by high school. Junior High schools are usually grades 7-9 and are followed by high school, which may also be called senior high schools (to match the junior high schools). High Schools have grades 9-12 unless they are preceded by junior high, in which case they have grades 10-12.
There are also schools that combine both the junior high grades and the senior high grades for a school with grades 7-12. These schools are often called secondary schools.

Any school beyond the elementary grades may be referred to as a secondary school, although it is most commonly a term used to refer to high schools (grades 9-12).

School districts will change the configuration of their schools to fit the population. If they have too many students in grades 9-12, for example, they may switch to having 9th graders attend a junior high. Or if they have fewer 9-12th graders and too many students in the elementary grades, they may switch to a system of sending the students in grades 5-7 to a middle school.

Now, as to why schools use different names, well that's pretty much just a matter of choice, language changes and people change the terms they use. These days many private or charter schools call themselves Academies rather than any of the other terms.