Now read the story of one school-leaver.

I have just left school and I would like to tell you a few words about it. My school is one of the oldest specialised schools in the city. It is famous for its high-quality education and strict discipline. The school is very well-equipped. On the ground floor there is a gym, a canteen, a library and workshops. On the first floor there is a large assembly hall, a home economics room, a computer class and a language laboratory. On the second floor there are physics, chemistry and biology labs.

I went to school five days a week. Classes began at nine o'clock in the morning. But I usually came to school ten minutes earlier. Each lesson lasted forty minutes. After three lessons we had a thirty-minute break. During this break we went to the canteen to have lunch. Every day we had 7 or 8 lessons. The lessons were over at four o'clock in the afternoon.

We usually had a lot of homework and it took me several hours to do it. I sometimes had to sit up to write a composition, to prepare a report, to translate a newspaper article form English into Russian or to learn a poem by heart. As I had problems with math I had to solve a lot of algebraic equations not to lag behind the class.

After classes I usually didn't go home right away. We had some out-of-class (extracurricular) activities. Our social and cultural life was well-organised. For example, we had an orchestra, a choir, an art club, an International Friendship Club. I took part in the drama club.

At school we had classes in Russian Literature, Maths, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, History, English, Computer programming. We also had Music, P. E., and Arts and Crafts. 

My favourite subject was English. I liked to learn new words, to dramatise texts and dialogues. I liked it when we discussed something interesting to us, when we were taught to debate, when we had small-group discussions or set up a role-play.

But I was not very good at chemistry. I always failed to learn formulas and terms properly. Maybe our chemistry teacher was too serious, too academic. She was not imaginative enough and her lessons were a little bit dull, there was not enough excitement for us to get interested in the subject.

I liked my class. I always felt at home there. Everybody was so friendly and easy to get along with. I was on good terms with my classmates and we often spent our free time together. We stayed in our classroom to decide our problems, to discuss something, to get ready for a party or a meeting or simply to chat, to sing a little, to listen to music or to play fool and laugh.

 

The subjects that are studied at school.

Russian – Русский язык Spelling – Правописание Reading – Чтение Calligraphy – Чистописание  Literature – Литература Rhetoric – Риторика History of World Culture & Arts - МХК Mathematics – Математика Arithmetic – Арифметика Algebra – Алгебра Geometry – Геометрия Trigonometry - Тригонометрия Computer Science – Информатика Natural History – Природоведение Nature Study – Естествознание Physics – Физика

Chemistry – Химия Inorganic ~ Неорганическ. ~ Organic ~ Органическая ~ Geography – География Physical ~ - Физическая ~ ~ of Continents - География континентов Economic ~ - Экономическая ~ Astronomy – Астрономия Biology – Биология Botany – Ботаника Zoology – Зоология Anatomy – Анатомия General biology – Общая биология English – Английский язык French – Французский язык German – Немецкий язык

History of Russia - ~ России History – История Ancient ~ - История древнего мира Medieval ~ - История средних веков Modern ~ - Новая история Man & Society – Человек и общество Arts – Изо Technical drawing – Черчение Physical Education/Training – Физкультура Music – Музыка Singing – Пение Manual Work – Ручной труд Labour Training – Трудовое обучение Study of Self Guard and Safety – ОБЖ

 

Higher Education in Russia

There are different kinds of higher education establishments – universities, academies, institutes, theatre schools, higher military colleges and all of them give school-leavers higher education. Depending on the source of financing higher education institutions may be either public (state-supported) or private (non-state). The education in state-supported universities and institutes is free if you pass entrance exams with high marks. If you get the marks worse than they are required for entry, you should pay for the education. In non-state universities and institutes students must always pay fees for their tuition.

A person who wants to get any higher education usually applies for admission to that university or institute he or she has chosen. An applicant gives to the admission board the documents and takes competitive examination. If an applicant passes the exams successfully he or she is enrolled to the university.

It takes from four to six years to get higher education. Institutes and universities usually offer a 4-year programme of academic subjects for undergraduates in a variety of fields to get their first bachelor's degree. If a student study for one year more he or she gets a diploma of a specialist. There is as well a graduate course. If one finishes a graduate course and writes a thesis, he or she receives a candidate's degree and later after doing some research work gains a doctoral degree.

Higher educational establishments are headed by Rectors. Vice-rectors are in charge of academic and scientific work. An institute or a university has a number of faculties, each specializing in a field of study. And very often there are departments at faculties. Faculties are headed by deans.

Now the system of secondary and higher education in Russia is going through a transitional period. The main objectives of the reform are: to decentralize the higher education system; to develop a new financial mechanism; to give more academic freedom to faculties and students. Our system of education has its own advantages but there are also many problems: of qualified teachers, text-books, school and institute programmes, laboratory equipment, financing of education establishments. It will take a long time to solve them.