EDUCATION IN BRITAIN

The English educational system is much more complicated than in our country. In Britain boys and girls go to school from the age of five to fifteen; some go till the age of sixteen or eighteen. The children of the rich get a far better education than the children of the poorer classes. Later on many of them study at Oxford or Cambridge. High polit­ical and business positions are open to them.

For children of the workers it is much more difficult to get a higher education. When they are eleven years old they have to sit for an examination. The "less intelligent" go to a Secondary Modern School, the "intelligent" (about 20 per cent) go to the Secondary Technical School or to a Secondary Grammar School. The latter leads to the University. Many parents and teachers are against this examination and the separation of the children at this age.

OXFORD

There are more than thirty Universities in Great Britain. The biggest University of all modern English Universities is London University. The oldest English Universities are Oxford and Cambridge.

Oxford was founded in the 12th century as an aristocratic University and it remains aristocratic to the present day. Very few children from the working class can afford to study there as the cost of studies is very high. Students have to pay for everything - for using books, libraries, laboratories, for taking examinations, etc.

Oxford's organization is very complicated. In fact the Uni­versity is a collection of Colleges. There are 32 colleges in Oxford: 27 colleges for men and 5 colleges for women. Each college is a world of its own which gives its students a spe­cialized training in arts, law, medicine, science, etc. The largest college has 500 students, the smallest college-100 students.

The University is an administrative centre which arranges lectures for all students of the colleges, holds examinations and gives degrees.

Oxford and Cambridge have a tutorial system of education and this is one of the ways in which Oxford and Cambridge differ from other English Universities. Every student has a tutor (= teacher) who plans his work and discusses it with the student after he has done it. Every student must see his tutor regularly and tell him everything about his studies. They discuss student's work, papers and essays which every student has to write and to submit to his tutor. They discuss different scientific and social problems. Though this system of education has some advantages, it brings a student into personal contact with his tutor, and the latter tries to have a great social and political influence on his students.

The academic year in England has three terms; each term lasts from eight to ten weeks. Terminal examinations take place at the end of autumn, spring and summer terms. Final exami­nations take place at the end of the course of studies. If a student fails in an examination, he may be allowed to take the exam again. But only two re-examinations are usually allowed.

Вправа 4

На основі інформації з тексту доповніть речення:

1. The English educational system is rather…

2. Children begin to attend school from the age of …

3. They go to school sometimes till the age of…

4. The children of the rich get…

5.It is much more difficult to get a higher education for…

Вправа 5

Дайте відповіді на питання:

1.How many men and women colleges are there at Oxford?

2.What is a tutorial system of education? What are its advantages and drawbacks (недостатки)?

3.How long does each term last?

4.How many re-examinations are allowed as a rule?

Вправа 6

1. Прочитайте текст. Запишіть перший та третій абзаци у минулому неозначеному часі, другий – у майбутньому неозначеному часі:

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