Education in Russia

I. Read the text.

Every citizenof our country has the right to education. This right is guaranteed by the Constitution.It is not only a right but a duty, too. Every boy and girl must get secondary education. Before going to school children under the age of three attend nurseries. Children from 3 to 6 attend kindergartens. They go to school at the age of six or seven and must stay there until they are 14-17 years old. At school pupils study academic subjects, such as Russian, Literature, Mathematics, History, Biology, Foreign Language and others.

After finishing 9 formsof a secondary school young people can continue their educationin the 10th and the 11th form. Children can also go to colleges or vocational and technical schools, where they study academic subjects and receive a profession. A college gives general knowledge inacademic subjects and a profound knowledge inone or several subjects. After finishing a secondary, vocational, technical school or a college, young people can start working or enter a university, institute or academy.

After finishing the 9^th and 11^th forms children must pass Unified State Exams. USE is the exam that every student must pass to enter a university or a professional college. Since 2009, USE is the only form of final examinations in schools and the main form of preliminary examinations in universities. A student can pass USE in Russian, Mathematics, Foreign Languages (English, German, French, Spanish), Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Literature, History, Basics of Social Sciences and Computing Science. USE in Russian and Mathematics are required; that means that every student needs to get the necessary results in these subjects to enter any Russian university.

Educational establishments of higher learning train specialists indifferent fields. The degree in all universities since the Soviet era is the Specialist after a course of5–6 years of studies. Since the mid-90s, many universities have introduced limited educational programs allowing students to graduate with a Bachelor's degree (4 years) and then earn a Master's degree (another 1–2 years). In October 2007 Russia enacted a move to two-level education in line with Bologna Process model. The universities inserted a Bachelor's diploma in the middle of their standard specialist programs; transition to real Master's qualification has not been completed yet. Specialist degree is now being discontinued, so new students don't have this option. At the same time, while specialist education was free, the Master's part of a six-year program is not. Students graduating in 2009–2010 will have to pay for what was free to their predecessors.

Many universities have extra-mural departments. There are educational establishments of higher learning in Russia which provide distance education. They givetheir students an opportunityto study without leaving their jobs. Institutes, universities and academies usually have graduate courses which give Master’s, Candidate and Doctorate degree.

Education in our country is freeat most schools. There are also private primary and secondary schools where pupils have to pay for their studies. Full-time students of institutes, academies and universities get scholarships. At many institutes, academies and universities there are also departments where students have to pay for their education.

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