Text 11 Education

Education plays a very important role in our life. It is one of the most valuable possessions a man can get in his life. Human progress mostly depended upon well-educated people. A person becomes a highly qualified specialist after getting some special education. Many famous discoveries would have been impossible if people were not interested in learning something. Education develops different sides of human personality, reveals his abilities. We know that science and art belong to the whole world. Before them the barriers of nationality disappear. So education brings people closer to each other, helps them to understand each other better.Let’s know some information about the educational system in Kazakhstan, in Great Britain and in the USA.

Educational system in Kazakhstan differs from American or Britain. At the age of two or three children can go to kinder-gardens but it is not necessarily. The children stay in the kinder-garden the whole day. At the elementary school children study with one teacher from the first up to the fourth forms. From the fifth form children go to grammar school. They study there five years and it is often placed at the same building with elementary school. They study mathematics, native language, foreign language (mostly English but there are a few schools where children study German and French) physics, biology, geography, history of Kazakhstan. After the ninth form children can leave school for a college or they continue studying for two years more. After the eleventh form children pass a big exam, test, which takes place in one day in the whole country. With the results of the test children can go to high institutions or to colleges. If they go to a college after the 11th form they study one year less.

The educational system of Great Britain is extremely complex and bewildering. Schooling for children is compulsory from 5 to 16, though some provision is made for children under 5 and some pupils remain at school after 16 to prepare for higher education. The state school system is usually divided into 2 stages (secondary and primary).

The majority of primary schools are mixed. They are subdivided into infant schools (ages 5 to 7), and junior schools (ages 7 to11). There are several types of schools in Great Britain. Grammar schools provide an academic cause for selected pupils from the age of 11 to 18. Only those children who have the best results are admitted to these schools. They give pupils a high level of academic education which can lead to the university.

Public education at all levels in the USA the responsibilities of individual states. Education is provided to all children from the age 5 to 18 in the school system. Education is compulsory until the age of 16. After 6 years in elementary school children go on to junior high (or middle school) and then to high school for another 6 years. The usual plan for dividing schools is: 6 years of elementary school, 3 years of junior high, 3 years of high school, but this plan may be different in different states. Those who complete the full high school program receive a high school diploma. The subjects children learn are much the same as in other countries. Schoolchildren can learn one foreign language for 2 years (Spanish, German, or French). Besides public schools there are private schools which are very expensive, and religious schools which are also fee-paying. About half of the young people today who finish secondary schools go on to community colleges which provide two years of higher education at minimal cost. State colleges and universities provide four years of higher education necessary to receive a bachelor’s degree, as well as additional education for a master‘s degree. Fees are different in different states. Besides these, there are many private colleges and universities, which are more expensive than public institutions.