To be admited to an institution of higher learning, one has to pass a series of oral and written tests. Grades in the certificate of secondary education are also taken account.

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.

During all the periods of human history education ranked high among people. Human progress mostly depended upon well-educated people. We get our knowledge of this world and life through education. Many famous discoveries would have been impossible if people were not interested in learning something. Self-education is very important for the development of human’s talents. Only through self-education a person can become a harmonically developed personality.

A person becomes a highly qualified specialist after getting some special education. And professionalism can be reached only through it. Even highly qualified specialists from time to time attend refresher courses to refresh their knowledge.

Education develops all sides of human personality, reveals his abilities. Besides, it helps a person to understand himself, to choose the right way in this world. The civilized state differs from others in the fact that it pays much attention to the educational policy. John Kennedy said: “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education”. But it doesn’t concern only one particular nation. 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.

Citizens of Russia have the right to education which is guaranteed by the Constitution. The public educational system in our country incorporates pre-school, general school, specialized secondary and higher education.

Pre-school consists of kindergartens and creches. Children there learn reading, writing and arithmetic. But pre-school education isn't compulsory - children can get it at home.

Compulsory education is for children from 6(7) to 17 years of age.

The main link in the system of education is the general school which prepares the younger generation for life and work in modern production. There are various types of schools: general secondary schools, schools specializing in a certain subject, high schools, lyceums and so on. Tuition in most of them is free of charge, but some new types of schools are fee-paying. The term of study in a general secondary school is 11 years and consists of primery, middle and upper stages. At the middle stage of a secondary school the children learn the basic laws of nature and society at the lessons of history, algebra, literature, physics and many others.

After 9th form pupils have to sit for examinations. Also they have a choice between entering the 10th grade of a general secondary school and enroling in a specialized secondary or vocational school.

Persons who finish the general secondary school, receive a secondary education certificate, giving them the right to enter any higher educational establishment. Entrance examinations are held in July and August. Institutions are headed by rectors; the faculties are headed by the deans. One has to study in the institute for 5 years. Higher educational institutions train students in one or several specializations.

Secondary education is mandatory in Russia. Children start school at the age of 6 and finish at 17. As a rule, a child attends the school located in the neighborhood, the one which is the closes to home. However, there in big cities there are also so-called "special" schools, offering more in-depth studies of the major European languages (English, French, or German), or the advanced courses in physics and mathematics, and children attending one of these may have to commute from home. There are no school buses in Russia.

The first stage of education is elementary school for grades 1 through 4. The second is secondary school for grades 5 through 9. Upon graduation from secondary school (which is not the equivalent of having completed their secondary education), students are given the choice of either

Continuing to attend the same school (high school; grades 10 and 11), or entering a vocational school or trade school. Both vocational school and trade schools are meant to provide one, long with the certificate of secondary education, with a number of useful skills (e.g., those of an electrician, technical, or computer operator).One attends the former for two years, and the latter for three or four.

Haveing completed one's secondary education, one can either become part of work force or go on to college ("institution of higher learning"). There are universityes and so-called "institutes" in Russian. The former stress a more theoretical, fundamental approach to education, while the latter are more practice oriented.

There are no medical schools or departments with in the structure of Russian universitys. Future doctors attend medical institutes. There are no degrees in Russian equivalent to those of bachelor's or master's. Students spend approximately five years in college or six in a medical institute.

To be admited to an institution of higher learning, one has to pass a series of oral and written tests. Grades in the certificate of secondary education are also taken account.

Entry to higher education is quite competitive. Some college departments (philologist, foreign languages-especially English, law, journalism) have dozens of applicants for one prospective student's position. The same is true of medical and theatre institutes.

Up to the present, neither college students nor schoolchildren have had any say in the selection of courses they had to take. Everyone has studied according to uniform series of guide lines approved by the Ministery of Higher Education. Evidently, this situation is going to change in the near future.

Education in Russian has until recently been free on all levels. College students with good grades were rewarded with a modest stipend. All institutions of higher learning were subsidized by the government. Now that the country is changing to a market-place economy, the system of education is also bound to undergo profound changes. The first private scholls, gymnasiums and lycees, have already been founded in Moscow and St. Petersburg, in an attempt to revive the pre-1917 traditionals of Russian educational system with its high standards of excellence.

Moscow has about 75 institutes of higher education. Two of them are universities — Moscow State University and the Russian University of People's Friendship.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 979