Otázka: System of education
Jazyk: Angličtina
Přidal(a): HappyFeet
EDUCATION IN BRITAIN
• In Britain compulsory school begins at the age of 5. Before that age children can go to a nursury school, also called play school. School is compulsory till they are 16 years old.
• Boys and girls are taugh together in most schools.
• Depending on the country, there are two systems of state school. The first one includes Primary School (5-11) and Secondary School (11-16). Primary School is usually divided into two sections – Infant School (5-7) and Junior School (7-11). The second one is composed of First School (5-8), Middle School (8-13) and Secondary School (13-16).
• In Primary and First school children have basic subjects, they learn to read and write and basics of maths. Later in the higher classes of Primary School (or in Middle School) children learn geography, history, religion and sometimes also a foreign language. Physical education is usually done twice a week. Except of the normal time-table students may také part in many activities such as drama, table tennis, drawing and so on.
• Secondary school can be divided into Grammer School and Comprehensive school. The majority of pupils attend Comprehensive Schools. The pupils there are mixed up from different social backgrounds and all of them are considered to be on the same level. This may cause problems sometimes. Some people say that bright academic children suffer there and that average standards are very low. Thats why Grammer School is. It offers an academic education and pupils are selected first, it means they have to pass some exams.
• Some parents, only 6-7% choose independent schools for their children. They are very expensive, but the pupils should reach much better education and better job oppourtunities. Before entering one of these schools, pupils usually attend firts pre-preparatory school (5-8) and then preparatory (fee-paying) school (8-13), also called just „prep“. Between 13-18 they attend a public school, but only if they pass an examination called Common Entrance
• This is on of the biggest differences between British and American school system – public school in Britain means private school, but public school in America means state school.
• The oldest and the most exclusive Public Schools in Britain are Eton College, Harrow or Rugby. The pupils are written on the list of applicant even before their birth.
• In England there are about 47 universities, including the Open Universtity, which teaches via television and radio broadcasts, correspondence courses and summer schools. The oldest universities in England are Oxford and Cambridge. The first degree at university usually lasts three of four years. Only medical and veterinary studies last five years. The main qualification in BA (Bachelor). A student of a foreign language usually spends a year in a country where that language is spoken.
• Some students continue to study for Master degrees, which need one or more years full-time study. Higher-degree study is more common among students of natural sciences than among those studying arts or economics.
EDUCATION IN THE USA
• In the US education differs according to the state. In each school the headmaster decides the curriculum for each grade in his own school, which causes very big differences between the schools.
• There are many kinds of school: public schools, private schools, parochial schools (run by the Church), schools specializing in the arts, literature of science.
• The school is compulsory from 6 till 18 years. The most common system includes:
• Nursery School (3-4)
• Kindergarten (4-6)
• Elementary School (6-12)
• Junior High School (12-15)
• Senior High School (15-18)
• The typical school day starts at 8:30 or 9:00 am. In many schools the day still begins with the salute to the American flag. In most american schools television is widely used in teaching and there are television channels which offer some educational shows. Some states, for example Virginia and South Carolina produce their own instructional shows and deliver them via satellite.
• The atmosphere at elementary schools is usually friendly and the teachers prefer the childrens happines to their knowledge.
• Full secondary education up to the age of 18 is available for everyone and the number of young people, who stay at school until they are 18 is relatively high. Schools are comprehensive and are called high schools. Pupils can choose all kinds of subjects.
• While secondary education is based on the ideal of mass education with equal opportunity for all, higher education is extremely competitive and selective.
• After graduating from High School students may go to attend a university or college. Because there are many colleges and universities in the US, quite a large number of high school graduates do have an opportunity to get a higher education. But completing university studies is very difficult. Colleges and universities give bachelor degrees after two years and master degrees after four years. The higher education is quite expensive, thats why many students také on part-time jobs.
• American universities are set in a „campus“, which is formed by buildings and green areas. Students may live in the campus, but may also go home in the evening. Most students do not live with their families, but rent an apartment together with friends.
• Some American universities are famous all over the world. They are selective and very expensive. The most outstanding are the eight of the group called the Ivy Leauge: Brown, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Darmouth College, Priceton and Pennsylvania. These univesrities have similar prestige in the USA to Oxford and Cambridge in Britain.
EDUCATION IN CR
• Pre-school education begins at the age of 3. Children can attend kindergartens. They play together there, sing, draw and learn basic thinks like how to tie their bootlaces.
• Primary education starts at basic schools and lasts 9 years. At the age of 6 children go to an elementary school, which is divided into first (1st to 5th class) and second (6th to 9th class) Basic schools are compulsory for all children. They learn writing, reading, counting, Czech language, from 5th class also biology, geography, foreign language, physics, etc.
• Then they can choose a high school (in Czech called middle school). There are grammar schools (do not have any specialisation, students learn everything) or special schools (like technical schools, economical, agriculture, music, for health workers, languages..). We also have state and private schools. Some grammar schools open classes for 8-year study, available for those who ended the first part of elementary school, and other various types of study.
• Usually there are entrance exams for a high school, and every high school ends with an exam called maturita. This is an oral exam in four subjects – one is Czech language and literature, one is a foreign language and the others are usually elective.
• A student with maturita can go to a college or university (in Czech called high school) for higher education.Then we can get a Bachelor’s (3 years), Master’s or Engineer’s (5 years) or Doctor’s degree.
• The oldest university in the Czech Republic is the Charles’ University (UK) in Prague. The other prestigious ones are for example Czech High Technical Education (ČVUT) in Prague, Masaryk’s University (MU) in Brno, and other technical, natural scientific and humanitarian universities in the whole country.
• Compared with the U.S. system, there are many differences. We don’t have pre-school and kindergarten separated, the compulsory 9 years are at one school. At high schools, there are no names of the classes, no school districts, and usually no sport clubs with cheerleaders. Unlike the American system, there are entrance and graduation exams. Also the marking is different, as we use numbers 1-5 instead of letters. At universities, no majors and minors are used. And there is one more difference connected with education – almost every student of high school attends dancing lessons for one year and learns to dance classics, which does not exist in America at all.
