Education in Great Britain, USA and Czech Republic
- a) Great Britain
Types of people: Nursery under 5 years
Infant 5 – 7 years
Junior 7 – 11 years
Senior 11- 16 plus
Further education 16 plus
University 18 plus
- Primary and Secondary education:
Every between 5 – 16 – full time education
– boys and girls together
– non-selective schools
Secondary schools: 1. Comprehensive[1] school – the majority choose this school
- Grammar school – 11 – 18 years
– academic education
– entrance with examination ® selective
- Public schools ( private ): – 7 – 8 % of students
– ex. Elton, Harrow
– quite expensive
– students can get scholarship[2] there
– before they usually attend preparatory school – age 8 – 13
- The National Curriculum[3]: – published in 1989
– they wanted to increase knowledge in age 5 – 16 in England
and Wales
– purpose: – raise students
– extend parental choice
– give schools greater responsibilities
– emphasis[4] the national knowledge
– set core[5] subjects:
– English
– Mathematics
– Science
– and other foundation[6] subjects:
– Technology
– History
– Geography
– Music
– Art
– Physical education
– Modern foreign language
( All students must study first nine subjects from 5 – 14, but
from 11 – 14 they must add modern language )
- Key stages : 1. Infant – up to 7 years
- Junior – 7 – 11 years
- pre-GCSE – 11 – 14 years
- preparation
for GCSE – 14 – 16
- Education from age of 14: – 14 – 16 years – they have 3 core subjects: 1. Technology
- Modern language
- Physical education
– In Wales they have also history, geography, their language
- Examination: – at above 16
– called: General Certificate of Secondary Education –
(GCSE)
– compulsory[7] subjects : – English
– Science
– Mathematics
- The higher courses: – at age of 18
– entrance examination for higher education : called A – level
– the newer examination is called Advanced Supplementary
– for people aged 16
– it enables to increase studied subjects
- Exceptions in Scotland: – Secondary schools are called Public schools
– they move to Sec. schools aged 12 not 11
- Higher education: – available at Universities and institutions for higher education – Britain has 47 Universities ( include Open University)
– the oldest Universities are Oxford and Cambridge (12th – 14th)
– Scottish universities – St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen
they date from 14th to 15th century
- UCLES: – it was established in 1858 in Cambridge University
– the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate – it sets standards of efficiency[8] for schools
– it was extended also overseas
– in our country promoted by British Council
- Universities system: – first degree – last 3 – 4 years (medical – 5 years)
– the main qualification : B.A. – Bachelor of Arts
B.Sc. – Bachelor of Science
– for students who are studying subjects such as engineering
it is typical that they spend some time in the industrial location so that they get experience
– degrees: – first class
– second class – upper
– lower
– third class
The degrees depends on the results achieved in three-hour
examination and with practical work in core subject.
– sandwich courses – studying with a work
– continuing can be for degree : Master of Art
Master of Science
Master of Philosophy
– it needs 1 or 2 years more
– minority[9] go on further – degree of Doctor of
Philosophy
- b) USA
Characteristic – in individual states is different
– government gives money to schools
– government has only little control over curriculum
– schools controlled by elected school board Þ large difference between schools
Þ voted by people
Þ the quality depends on this board
– the beginning of the school year is in each state different, the end is usually in May or June
– school year is divided into three terms or quarters
– at the end of the year they get transcript
– schools divided – pre-school and elementary
– secondary
– higher
Types of schools – Public schools – financed by the state
– these schools are free of charge
– Private schools – high tuition[10] Þ attended by children of the rich families
– all offer scholarship
– schools sponsored by organisations are much cheaper
– some schools remain single-sex
– they usually wear uniforms
Pre-school and elementary – pre-school include nursery and kindergartens which are up to 5 or 6 and most of them are private
– compulsory education begins at age of 6
– elementary(6-11) and secondary ed. is compulsory
– year is called GRADE
– at elementary school they learn the basic subjects
Secondary education – over 90% of students study till 18
– this study is provided by Middle School(11-14) or High School
– High school is divided into Junior High(12-15) and High School(15-18)
– in some places you can visit specialised sec. schools (science, navy, arts)
– at high schools they can choose several subjects(history, English, math)
– some schools offer different programs of study or opportunity to get a level of academic study known as a track
– high schools organised a lot of programs outside the classroom
– most of them have their own football, baseball team or choir or band
Qualification – when leaving school they are awarded the High school diploma
– after passing the examination they get Scholastic Aptitude Test
– the national examination to enter the college is called Scholastic Aptitude Test
– after the secondary school they can go either to state-funded or private college or university
Higher Education – one third of the students continue on higher education
– the institutions are: Community colleges
Vo-tech
Universities
Colleges
Technical colleges
Community Colleges – for people with High School Diploma
– after two years they are awarded Associate of Arts degree
– semi-professional education, vocational
Vo-techs – vocational technical schools
– the study took 6 months to 2 years
– after finishing people take up employment
Universities and Colleges – applicants[11] are selected on the basic of the high-school transcript[12] and teacher’s recommendation, some times they can require test results
– they offer undergraduate courses of 4 years of study
– after successful completion they are awarded Bachelor’s degree (Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science)
– some universities also award Master’s degrees in humanities and science after 3 years of study, and Doctoral Degrees after 5 years of sudy
– well known universities are: Harward
Yale University
Princeton University
– 25 % of all universities and colleges are private
– each university has different curriculum
– the students must choose major subjects and elective or minor subjects
- c) Czech Republic
Characteristic: – compulsory from 6 to 15
– most children attend state schools, but there are newly established private and church schools
– at state schools education is up to 18 free of charge, but they must pay textbooks
– children do not wear uniforms
– handicapped children are educated separately
– the school year starts on 1st September and finish 30th June, and is divided into two terms
– every term students get school report (end of January and June)
– education includes these stages:pre-school
primary
secondary
tertiary
Pre-school education: – provided by crèches[13] for children up to 3 and by nursery schools for children from 3 to 6
– not many children attend crèches, but a lot of them attend kindergartens
Primary education: – they start at 6 and they stay there till 15
– they can then go to secondary school
– if parents want, their children can go to grammar school[14] at 11 after passing examination
Secondary education: – they can choose between: grammar school – prepare students for university study
special school – it is very focused
vocational school – training for practical jobs
– usually lasts for 4 years and it is finished with school leaving examination, which is required by all universities and colleges
– at grammar school the examination is taken from Czech, foreign subject and 2 other
– at specialised school the examination includes five or more subjects
– the examination is in May (oral) and from Czech also written one month before
– each subject has about 25 to 30 questions
– after passing the examination they receive School-Leaving Certificate
Tertiary education: – includes Universities and Colleges
– it lasts from 4 to 6 years
– before they are taken to the school they must pass the entrance examination
– the examination consists from written test and interview.
– the well known universities: Charles University – established 1348, Prague
Masaryk University – Brno
Palcký University – Olomouc
Purkyně University – Ústí nad Labem
– undergraduate can study a variety of subjects (law, medicine, arts,…)
– students can enrol[15] at three year courses for a Bachelor’s degree or four and five year courses for Master’s degree, medicine usually lasts 6 years
– the study is finished with a state examination – every undergraduate[16] has to write a thesis[17] in order to receive a diploma in certain[18] field of study
– the thesis is handed over[19] at the graduation ceremony
– Doctoral degree are awarded after another few of studies
– full time university students must bear the expense of their tuition[20] and they must also pay for their accommodation and board
– some students can get grant[21] or scholarship
– for those who doesn’t want to visit university there are two year training courses such as for managers, businessman …
[1] ) všeobecný
[2] ) stipendium
[3] ) osnova
[4] ) zvýraznit
[5] ) jádro, hlavní
[6] ) základ, základní
[7] ) povinný
[8] ) efektivita, výkonnost
[9] ) menšina
[10] ) dozor, ochrana, školné
[11] ) uchazeč, žadatel
[12] ) opis
[13] ) jesle
[14] ) gymnázium
[15] ) zaregistrovat se
[16] ) vysokoškolák
[17] ) diplomová práce
[18] ) určitý, jistý
[19] ) odevzdat
[20] ) školné
[21] ) finanční podpora