On the structure of public education in Russia

 

Russia has a unified system of public education. The system includes compulsory secondary education and higher education. The principles of our public education are:

1. The equal right to education for all citizens, as guaranteed by the Constitution.

2. Co-education, no separate men's or women's schools.

3. Free tuition throughout the system.

The majority of schools belong to the State, but private schools have appeared in Russia and there are some Sunday church schools as well.

In Russia children begin to go to school at the age of 7 and the first stage – primary education – lasts for three years. After the nineth form pupils have got a choice to continue their education at school for two more years or go to some special secondary educational establishments.

The unified system of public education in Russia consists of the following chief types:

1. Compulsory general secondary education.

2. Specialized secondary education.

3. Technical vocational education for working people.

4. Higher education.

Our higher educational institutions are divided into three basic groups the universities, specialized institutions and academies.

The universities train highly qualified specialists in philosophy, philology, history, power engineering, economics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, geography, and many other branches of science, that is the universities train specialists in sciences and humanities.

The specialized institutions, technical universities and academies train specialists for one of the fields of culture or national economy. The chief types are pedagogical, agricultural, medical, metallurgical, mining, civil engineering and certain others.

In several cases the specialized technical universities are polytechnical in a specific field of engineering. For example, the Moscow State Building University trains engineers for the most important branches of modern construction such as industrial and housing construction as well as specialists in the planning and development of towns, technicians in building materials and building machinery. In all higher educational institutions there are some optional courses which provide students with an opportunity to study besides obligatory subjects they are most interested in.

Science has been playing and will always play the most important role in the development of the whole world and of Russia as well.

The application of the latest achievements in industry demands of today's workers and engineers great knowledge and good polytechnical training. Higher educational institutions of our country must equip their students for the long road of independent work for the benefit of humanity, for the transformation of nature, and in actual fact our universities and institutions are doing this.

 

Ex. I. Find the equivalents:

public education факультативные предметы

free tuition обязательное среднее образование

compulsory general secondary профессионально-техническое обра-

education зование

specialized secondary education бесплатное обучение

technical vocational education технические и гуманитарные науки

higher education специальное среднее образование

sciences and humanities студенты дневного отделения

optional courses народное образование

full-time students с отличием

with honours высшее образование

 

Ex. II.

a) Join suitable parts:

1. In all higher educational institutions there are some optional courses...

a)... which provide all citizens with equal opportunities for higher education.

b)... which in several cases are polytechnical in a specific field of engineering.

c)... which are divided into two basic groups: the universities and specialized institutions.

d)... which provide students with an opportunity to study subjects they arе most interested in.

2. the equal right to education for all citizens.

a) The system of public education includes...

b) The system of public education provides...

c) The system of public education is free of charge throughout the system and all schools belong to...

d) The system of public education is the most progressive in the world, its basic principles were proclaimed...

b) Find the correct answer to the following question:

What chief types does the system of public education in Russia include?

1. It includes obligatory and optional subjects.

2. The basic principles of public education are as follows:

a) the equal right to education for all citizens;

b) free tuition throughout the system;

c) co-education;

d) The majority of schools belong to the state.

3. There are two types of higher educational institutions both of which train specialists for the national economy of our country.

4. They are as follows:

a) compulsory general secondary education;

b) specialized secondary education;

c) technical vocational education;

d) higher education.

 

Ex. III. Insert prepositions wherever necessary:

1. Our universities train specialists... many fields... national economy. 2. The schools … belong... the state... our country. 3. Our group was divided... two.

4. They are good specialists...many fields. 5. Translate these words... English and pay attention... the suffixes.

 

Ex. IV. Translate into English:

1. Любой студент имеет право изучать некоторые предметы факультативно. 2. Некоторые студенты нашей группы окончили университет с отличием. 3. Любой гражданин, живущий в любом месте России, имеет право учиться заочно в любом высшем учебном заведении. 4. Общее число студентов некоторых университетов значительно увеличилось за последнее время. 5. Никто еще не написал эту работу. 6. В этой стране произошли некоторые изменения в системе народного образования за последнее время, изменения происходят и сейчас. 7. Курс обучения в университете продолжается пять или шесть лет. 8. Все наши выпускники – высококвалифицированные специалисты. 9. Эти студенты будут сдавать экзамены на следующей неделе. 10. Уровень преподавания в российских высших учебных заведениях очень высок. 11. Каждый год в конце семестра студенты нашей группы пишут контрольную работу по английскому языку.

 

Ex. V. Read the text in 3 minutes without a dictionary and title it:

Part-time and correspondence higher institutions of Russia train specialists in most fields. The overwhelming majority of evening and correspondence students study professions they are engaged in. For example, industrial and transport workers join correspondence technical higher schools, elementary school teachers study in pedagogical higher schools, farm workers study in agricultural schools, etc. This fact makes it possible for the correspondence and evening higher institutes to train highly qualified specialists.

The curricula of correspondence, part-time and full-time higher schools do not differ essentially in the subjects taught, but they differ in the system inwhich studies are organized.

The basic form of study for correspondence students is independent work at home.

TEXT IV