Education
Education in Great Britain is compulsory from 5 to 15 years of age. The school leaving age is from 15 to 18. There are two types of school in Great Britain: state and independent schools. State school is the system of infant, junior, and secondary schools.
Infant school is for children between 5 and 7. At this school children learn reading, writing, arithmetic in the form of games. The Junior school is for children from 7 to 11.
Formerly there were only two types of secondary school in Great Britain: grammar school and modern school. The grammar school gives traditional literary and scientific education up to the age of 18 and prepares pupils for entry to universities. The secondary modern school gives a general and vocational education up to the age of 15. After finishing this school the child goes to work.
Many years ago comprehensive schools were introduced. Pupils go to them automatically from the junior school. So nowadays there are three kinds of secondary schools in Great Britain.
Parallel to the state schools there is a system of independent schools. It includes preparatory and public schools. Only the rich can send their children to these schools. There are about 100 public schools in Great Britain. Many public schools are very old, the world known public schools are Eton, Harrow, and Winchester. These schools are boarding schools.
There are 45 universities, 30 polytechnics, and many special colleges in Great Britain. There are two main universities in Great Britain: Oxford and Cambridge. They are very old, they date from 12th and 13th centuries.
Every university is composed of several collages. For example, Oxford has over 30 collages. It is very expensive to study at these universities. A few scholarships are given to brilliant grammar school leavers.
London
London is the capital of the United Kingdom. It is about 20 centuries old. It is situated on the river Thames. The present-day London is a huge city with the population of 9 mln. people. It includes a number of towns and villages. Today it is known as Greater London. Greater London is about 30 miles (about 48 klm) long and 30 miles wide. London is a great centre of finance, commerce, industry in the world. Greater London may be divided into 4 main parts: the City, the West End, the East End, and the Port. They are different in architecture, inhabitance, and traffic.
The City is the oldest part in London. It is about one square mile in area. In old days it had walls around. About 10000 people live there but its day-time population is over half a million. The City is a centre of finance and business. Banks, commercial and newspaper offices are situated here. Buildings in the City are high, streets are narrow, the traffic in the day-time is slow. There are many churches here. St. Paul’s Cathedral is the world-known.
The main streets in the City are Strand Street and Fleet Street. Strand Street runs along the Thames. Fleet Street is famous as a street of the British Press.
In the West End the rich people live. There are the finest theatres and cinemas, large museums, luxurious hotels, and the largest department stores, famous shops there.
The West End includes the government quarter. It stretches along the Thames and includes the Houses of Parliament, the seat of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Downing Street. There are many parks here. The main parks are St. James Park, the Green Park, and Hyde Park. Regent Street and Oxford Street are the most fashionable streets in the West End. Piccadilly Circus and Soho are quarters of cinemas, theatres, and Art. Piccadilly is the centre of London’s gaiety.
The East End is the part where working people of dozen nations live. There are many factories, railway lines, and storehouses in the East End. It is a place of poverty and slums.
London is the greatest seaport. Both large and small ships can sail into London. Along the banks of the river one can see miles and miles of docks. The Thames is alive with thousands of sailors and other workmen who work in Britain’s import and export trade.