Education
in Great Britain
is compulsory and free for all children. Schooling is compulsory for 12 years,
for all children aged five to 16. Nine tenth of all children are educated in
state schools.
Compulsory
education begins at 5, but 3-and 4-year-olds can receive education in nursery
school or in nursery classes in primary schools.
Children
attend a primary school from 5 to 11. Primary education may place in two
separate schools: Infant schools and Junior schools. The first years of
schooling are very important. They are the foundation of every child's
education. There is talking and listening, reading and writing and an
introduction to Mathematics and Science. The Juniors are streamed according to
their abilities to learn into the A-B-and C-streams. The brightest go into the
A-stream, the least gifted are put into the C-stream.
Between
1945 to 1965 secondary education in Britain was largely selective.
Towards the end of their 4 year in the Junior school, all the pupils had to
pass their 11 examination which consisted of 3 selective tests. On the results
of the tests the pupils were sent to one of the main 3 types of secondary
school - grammar, technical or modern. This division has proved to be inadequate:
most of the parents and progressive teachers have long campaigned to have the
11 exam abolished and demanded equal opportunities for all children. But still
in some parts of the country you may meet the abolished exam.
Thus, a
new type of school - the comprehensive school, has recently been set up,
according to the Education Act of 1988 that introduced a National Curriculum
for children aged 5-16 in
all state schools in England
and Wales.
It consists of 10 subjects which all the children must study at school:
English, Mathematics, Science, Modern foreign languages, Technology and
Design, History, Geography, Music, Art, P.T. Schools can offer other subjects
in addition to those in the National Curriculum.
Some parents prefer to send their children to
independent schools. This private sector includes the so-called public
schools,-some of them are known all over the world, e.g. Eton
College, Harrow
College, Cheltenham Ladies
College, etc. They are
mostly boarding schools where the pupils live and study. Today only 16 percent
of pupils in private section of education attend boarding schools.
Normally
entrance is by examination, known as Common Entrance. These are only for the
select few, who can afford money to pay tuition at these privileged educational
establishments.
About
three million students enroll each year in part-time courses at further
education (FE).
Colleges
and there is a much smaller proportion of full-time training.
There are
22 universities in Great Britain;
a university consists of a number of faculties: Medicine, Engineering, Commerce
and Education. After 3 years of study a student may get a Bachelor degree and
then proceed to the degrees of Master and Doctor. The leading universities are
Oxford, Cambridge
(Oxbridge) and London.
English universities differ from each other in date of foundation, history, traditions,
general organization, methods of instruction, the way of students' life, etc.
Besides universities there are some higher technical educational institutions.
One should say, not many children are able to receive a Higher Education, as
the fees are rather high.
In spite
of high fees, Britain's
universities, FE colleges and English language schools host a large number of
foreign students.
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