Text A. Education in the Russian Federation

Russians have always shown a great concern for education. The right to education is stated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It is ensured by compulsory secondary schools, vocational schools, and higher education establishments. It is also ensured by the development of extramural and evening courses and the system of state scholarships and grants.

Education in Russia is compulsory up to the 9th form inclusive. The stages of compulsory schooling in Russia are: primary education for ages 6-7 to 9-10 inclusive; secondary education including intermediate school for ages 10-11 to 12-13 inclusive, and senior school for ages 13-14 to 14-15 inclusive. If a pupil of a secondary school wishes to go on in higher education, he or she must stay at school for two more years. Primary and secondary school together comprise 11 years of study. Every school has a “core curriculum” of academic subjects, such as Russian, Literature, Mathematics, History, a foreign language, PT. Lycees and gymnasiums offer programs giving profound knowledge in some field of study.

After finishing the 9th form one can go on to a vocational school which offers programmes of academic subjects and a programme of training in a technical field, or a profession.

After finishing the 11th form of a secondary school, a lycee or a gymnasium one can go on in higher education. All applicants must take competitive entrance examinations. Higher education institutions, that is, institutes or universities, offer a 5-year programme of academic subjects for undergraduates in a variety of fields, as well as a post graduate course. If one finishes a post graduate course and writes a thesis, he or she receives a candidate’s degree or a doctoral degree.

Higher educational establishments are headed by Rectors. Prorectors are in charge of academic and scientific work. Each institute or university has a number of faculties, specializing in a certain field of study. The faculties are headed by the Deans. There are departments within the faculties.

The system of secondary and higher education in Russia is going through a transitional period. The main objectives of the reform are: to decentralize the higher education system, to develop a new financial mechanism, to give more academic freedoms to faculties and students. All secondary schools, institutes and universities until recently have been funded by the state. Now there is quite a number of private fee-paying primary and secondary schools; some universities have fee-paying departments.

In terms of the ratio of students to the total population Russia ranks among the top ten countries in the world.

The Russian educational policy is a combination of economic and social objectives. An educated person contributes more to the society, and education on the other hand gives a person the prospect for professional advance.

Vocabulary

I. Read the international words. Guess their meaning. Consult a dictionary if necessary:

a) guarantee, constitution, course, student, university, faculty, lycee, gymnasium, mathematics, rector, prorector, organization, examination, policy, person, profession, specialization, combination, programme;

b) academic, professional, total, technical, social, economic, specialized.

II. Read and translate the following word combinations:

to guarantee the right to education; specialized secondary education; specialized course; academic work; educational policy; the combination of economic and social objectives; technical training schools.

III. Translate into English rapidly. If you can’t, review the list of words again:

а) образование, обязательный, предмет, право, (проф)училище, знания, абитуриент, готовить, диссертация, выпускник, декан, кафедра, факультет, программа, степень;

b) право на образование, средняя школа, платная частная школа, высшее учебное заведение, заочное обучение, государственные стипендии, глубокие знания, вступительные экзамены, быть ответственным (за), вносить вклад.

IV. Complete the sentences:

1. Every citizen of our country has the right to.... 2. The right to education is guaranteed by.... 3. Every boy or girl must get.... 4. At school pupils study.... 5. Institutes and universities... specialists in different fields. 6. A course at institutes or universities... 5 years. 7. At most schools... is free. 8. Students of institutes or universities get....

V. Correct the wrong statements:

1. Children enter school at the age of 9. 2. The academic year begins on the first of January. 3. At colleges students give lectures to professors. 4. Pupils study 8 years at primary school. 5. Higher education is compulsory in Russia. 6. A course at institutes or universities usually takes 10 years. 7. There are no private schools in Russia. 8. After finishing 9 forms of secondary school young people can enter the institute.

VI. Read the text 'Education in the Russian Federation'. Find the English equivalents for the Russian word combinations:

право на образование, обязательное обучение в средней школе, профессиональное обучение, начальное образование, среднее образование, высшее образование, заочное и вечернее обучение, государственные стипендии, начальная школа, продолжать образование в ВУЗе, высшие учебные заведения, процентное соотношение числа студентов к числу жителей России, образованный человек, перспективы профессионального развития, забота об образовании, давать углубленные знания, сдавать конкурсные экзамены, отвечать за учебную и научную работу, создать новый финансовый механизм, финансироваться государством.

VII. Find the answers to the following questions. The reading selection will help you:

1. What is the difference between secondary comprehensive schools and lycees and gymnasiums? 2. Where can people get post school education?

VIII. Discussing the reading.

A. Answer the questions:

1. Is the right to education guaranteed by the Constitution of Russia? Prove it. 2. What subjects comprise a “core curriculum”? 3. What are the main objectives of the Russian higher education system? 4. What do Russian institutions of higher education include?

B. Draw a scheme of the Russian education system. Discuss it with your partner.

C. Explain to your foreign friend:

a) how the system of secondary education works in Russia;

b) the possibility of getting post school education;

c) the privileges the state grants to the students of Russia.

D. The system of higher education in Russia is going through a transitional period. Give a presentation of this problem.

IX. Rearrange the key phrases given below and use them to speak about Moscow State University:

contacts with the leading Universities in other countries; the oldest in Russia; excellent facilities; laboratories, a system of observatories, museums; among better-known students; to be founded in 1755; famous writers; by M.V. Lomonosov; the centre of scientific research; to be named after M.V. Lomonosov; to become; Mikhail Lermontov, Ivan Turgenev, Anton Chekhov; such well-known scientists as; only 3 departments - philosophy, medicine and law; Zhukovsky, Vernadsky, Sechenov, Vavilov, Keldysh.

X. Translate into English in written form.

1. Право на образование в России гарантируется конституцией. 2. В средней школе ученики изучают академические предметы. 3. После окончания 9 класса средней школы молодые люди могут пойти в техникум или ПТУ. 4. Там они изучают академические предметы и получают специальное образование. 5. Молодые люди могут продолжить образование в 10 и 11 классе или колледже, дающем углубленные знания по одному или нескольким предметам. 6. Молодые люди, поступившие в институт или университет, учатся там 5 лет. 7. Студенты вечернего и заочного отделений могут получить образование, одновременно работая. 8. Начальное и среднее образование бесплатно в большинстве школ. 9. В частных школах и на некоторых отделениях институтов и университетов нужно платить за образование.

Text B. Schooling in the United Kingdom

The quality of a country’s future life, commercially, industrially and intellectually, depends on the quality of its education system. From the end of the World War II the state in the United Kingdom provides a full range of free educational facilities. Those parents who prefer to send their children to private institutions, and could afford it, are free to do so.

The organization of state schooling is not as centralized as in most European countries. Firstly, there is no prescribed curriculum. Secondly, the types of school available and the age ranges for which they cater vary in different parts of the country. In each area Local Education Authority is responsible for education. At any publicly-maintained school no tuition fees are paid. State schooling in the United Kingdom is financed partly by the Government and partly by local rates.

Schooling is voluntary under the age of five, but there is some free nursery school education before that age. Primary education takes place in infant schools for pupils aged from five to seven and junior schools from eight to eleven. Some areas have a different system in which middle schools replace junior schools and take pupils aged from nine to twelve. Secondary education has been available in Britain since 1944. It is compulsory up to the age of sixteen, and pupils can stay at school voluntarily for up to three years longer.

Until 1964 children took an “eleven plus” exam at the age of eleven. At this exam they were selected, or “streamed” according to their current level of academic attainment, for training in different types of secondary schools. Grammar schools provided a mainly academic course for the top 20 percent; modern schools provided general education with a practical bias.

In 1965 non-selective comprehensive schools were introduced. Most local education authorities have now completely changed over to comprehensive schooling.

At the age of sixteen pupils take school-leaving examinations in several subjects at the Ordinary level. The exam was conducted by eight independent examining boards, most of them connected with the university. This exam was called the General Certificate of Education. Pupils of comprehensive school had taken the examination called the Certificate of Secondary Education either with or instead of the General Certificate of Education, Ordinary level.

The examination for the General Certificate of Education of Advanced (“A”) level was taken two years after the Ordinary level exam. It was the standard for entrance to University and to many forms of professional training. In 1988 both examinations were replaced by the more or less uniform General Certificate of Secondary Education.

The private sector is running parallel to the state system of education. There are about 2500 fee-charging independent schools in Great Britain. Most private schools are single-sex until the age of 16. More and more parents seem prepared to take on the formidable extra cost for education. The reason is the belief that social advantages are gained from attending a certain school. The most expensive day or boarding schools in Britain are exclusive public schools like Eton college for boys or St. James’ school for girls.

Vocabulary

I. Make sure you know the words to text B.

II. Read the text 'Schooling in the United Kingdom'. Find out what information the following dates and figures deal with:

1944, 1964, 20, 1965, 2500, 16.

III. Read the text again. Answer the questions:

1. What is State schooling in the United Kingdom characterized by? 2. When do they start education in Britain? 3. What are the stages of schooling in the United Kingdom? 4. Is secondary education selective or non-selective in Britain? 5. According to what principles were children streamed until 1965? 6. What are the recent government measures in the sphere of education? 7. What kind of school-leaving exams do children take at schools in Britain?

Text C. University Education in Great Britain

According to the organization of work in the universities they can be divided into 3 groups:

1) London University;

2) Oxford and Cambridge;

3) Provincial universities.

London University consists of the federation of different institutes, schools and colleges run by one administration. They are situated in different parts of London and even outside it. The rules are the same for all the colleges and institutes of London University. It is comprised by 62 institutes, schools and colleges.

Oxford and Cambridge are also educational federations, but they unite only colleges, and if the students of London University live not only in the hostels but also at home, Oxford and Cambridge are as a rule residential, that is the students live in the colleges of these universities. Though now there are

students who live at home. They are obliged to come to the university twice or three times a week to have meals together with other students (the spirit of a collective). In each college there live students of different faculties, and in each college they are given lectures on humanitarian subjects. The attendance is not compulsory. The lectures are delivered by the lecturers who live in the college too. Independent work of students is supervised by tutors who live in the college, and deliver lectures on their subjects. If a student has money he may choose a tutor to his taste. These two universities still enjoy a great popularity, because they have the best teaching staff and better prepared students. To enter these universities is more difficult, that is why they have better chances to choose better prepared students. The composition of the student body here is peculiar. More than 2 / 3 are from upper-middle classes. Most state posts in the country are occupied by Oxford and Cambridge graduates. Oxford and Cambridge have always concentrated on humanities to train leaders, but recently they have opened some departments of science and technology.

Provincial universities have no elements of federation. All the students and the teaching staff are concentrated in one place. Their students live either at home or in hostels or rented rooms. These universities are more democratic than other universities. Universities are financed through a special government committee. The money comes from different sources:

1) state subsidies (about 70%),

2) from the students who pay for education (about 12%),

3) subsidies from local authorities (3 - 4%),

4) private investments and the university’s own means.

The tuition fee in Britain is very high, higher than in other countries (300 pounds a term). It differs from university to university. In London - £600 per term. It is higher in Oxford and Cambridge than in the provinces. The tuition, lodging and food in London University is about 1000 pounds; in Oxford and Cambridge for the same 1000; in provincial universities 700 / 800 pounds. As the students from working class families can’t afford to pay so much, 73% of all the students get scholarships. The total sum of it is 550 - 650 pounds per term.

All those who have finished Grammar school at an advanced level can enter a university. To enter it the school leavers don’t have to take entrance exams except at Oxford and Cambridge and some colleges of London University.

At the university students attend lectures given by lecturers and professors. As soon as a student is enrolled in university or college he is given independent work which is checked by the tutor. The tutorial system is characteristic of the students' studies in English universities.

Every student is attached to a tutor who controls his independent work, supervises his discipline and prepares him for exams. Each tutor has 3-4 students, sometimes 10. Once or twice a week a student writes a kind of a composition. It is an account of student’s independent work for the week. The compositions are on the subjects students specialize in. Once or twice a week a student comes to his tutor, and for an hour or so, the teacher discusses with him the merits and demerits of his work. An English student studies from 9 a.m. till 1 p.m. He attends lectures, works in the laboratories and with tutors. The rest of his time is taken up by his independent work in the library, or by sports. Now, especially in provincial universities they lay greater stress on lectures.

Exams are taken in written form (papers). The main stress is laid on narrow specialization. If physics and mathematics are compulsory all the other subjects are optional.

The course of study at the university is three years, at the medical and some other faculties - 4 years. But lazy students may stay there for 5 years. They get no degree or diploma but a certificate, so they do not graduate from the university but finish it. They do the work at an ordinary level.

But if they want to graduate from the university they must do the work at an advanced level. The academic year begins in October and lasts till July. In three years if a student passes his exams successfully he gets a Bachelor’s degree (Bachelor of Arts, B.A. or Bach. of Science, B.Sc.). He may have the Honours Degree or the Ordinary Degree. For the O.D. a student passes ordinary exams. For the H.D. he takes an intensive study, after it he may stay at the university for one or two more years. He does some more studies to get his Master of Science Degree (M.Sc.). To get this degree the student must pay for exams. To become a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) one must write a thesis. After it comes Doctor of Science Degree (D.Sc.).

All the establishments of higher education in Great Britain can be divided into the following groups: Universities, university colleges, technical colleges and other specialized colleges (teachers training colleges, commercial colleges, etc.).

I. Read the text ' University Education in Great Britain' silently. Find the answers to the following questions in the text:

1. What are the three types of Universities in Great Britain? 2. What are the main differences between the three groups of British Universities? 3. How can young people gain admission to the University? 4. What is the process of study in British Universities? 5. What support have students from the state?

II. Make up the plan of the text. Retell the text according to your plan.

III. Make up a summary of the text.

Text D. Oxford

What is so special about Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest universities in England? Why do so many students want to study there?

Both of these university towns are very beautiful. They have some of the finest architecture in Britain. Some of their colleges, chapels and libraries are three, four and even five hundred years old, and are full of valuable books and precious paintings. Both towns have many lovely gardens, where the students can read and relax in the summer months.

Oxford is the older university of the two. The first of its colleges was founded in 1249. The university now has thirty-four colleges and about twelve thousand students, many of them from other countries. There were no women students at Oxford until 1878, when the first women’s college, Lady Margaret Hall, opened. Now, women study at most colleges.

Oxford is, of course, famous for its first class education as well as its beautiful buildings. Some of the most intelligent men and women in the country live and work here. Oxford gives them what they need: a quiet atmosphere, friendly colleagues, and the four-hundred-year-old Bodleian library, which has about five million books.

It is not easy to get a place at Oxford University to study for a degree. But outside the university there are many smaller private colleges which offer less difficult courses and where it is easy to enrol. Most students in these private schools take business, secretarial or English language courses.

I. Read the text and find the answers to these questions:

1. What makes Oxford and Cambridge so special? 2. When was one of the first colleges in Oxford founded? 3. How many colleges does the University consist of? 4. When did women begin to study at Oxford? 5. What is Oxford famous for? 6. Is it easy to get a place to study at Oxford? 7. How old is Bodleian library? 8. Which is older: Oxford University or Cambridge University?

II. Draw a scheme of British post school education. Discuss it with your partner.

III. Compare British and Russian systems of higher education. Discuss merits and demerits of both systems.

IV. Make a written translation of the following passages:

a) Britain’s Universities

There are about 90 universities in Britain. They are divided into three types: the old universities (Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh Universities), the 19th century universities such as London and Manchester universities, and the new universities. Some years ago there were also polytechnics. After graduating from a polytechnic a student got a degree, but it was not a university degree. 31 former polytechnics were given university status in 1992.

Full courses of study offer the degree of Bachelor of Arts or Science. Most degree courses at universities last 3 years, language courses - 4 years (including a year spent abroad). Medicine and dentistry courses are longer (5 - 7 years).

Students may receive grants from their Local Education Authority to help pay for books, accommodation, transport and food. This grant depends on the income of their parents.

Most students live away from home, in flats or halls of residence.

Students don’t usually have a job during term time because the lessons, called lectures, seminars, classes or tutorials (small groups), are full time. However, many students now have to work in the evening.

University life is considered “an experience”. The exams are competitive but the social life and living away from home are also important. The social life is excellent with a lot of clubs, parties, concerts, bars.

There are not only universities in Britain but also colleges. Colleges offer courses in teacher training, courses in technology and some professions connected with medicine.

b) Higher Education in Great Britain

Pupils going on to higher education or professional training usually take “A” level examinations in two or three subjects. Universities accept students mainly on the basis of their “A” level results, although they may interview them as well. In 1971 the Open University was started, where these formal qualifications are not necessary. Nearly a quarter of all adult part-time students follow its degree courses on radio and television.

There are forty-seven universities in Britain and thirty former polytechnics (now also universities), plus 350 colleges and institutes of higher education (some of which train teachers).

Undergraduate courses normally take three years of full-time study, although a number of subjects take longer, including medicine, architecture and foreign languages (where courses include a year abroad). They lead in most cases to a Bachelor’s degree in Arts or Science. There are various postgraduate degrees, including Master and Doctor of Philosophy. The last two are awarded for research in arts or sciences.

Degrees are awarded either by the institution itself, or by the Council for National Academic Awards, particularly in vocational areas. Students of law, architecture and some other professions can take qualifications awarded by their own professional bodies instead of degrees.

At present, students who have been accepted by universities or other institutions of higher education receive a grant from their local authority, which covers the cost of the course, and may cover living expenses. Parents with higher incomes are expected to make a contribution. Until 1990 the grant did not have to be paid back, but now a system of loans has been introduced.

The most famous universities are Oxford and Cambridge, called “Oxbridge”. They are famous for their academic excellence.

Notes:

C O N V E R S A T I O N

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