Education in Belarus

Belarusians have always shown a great concern for education. The right to education is stated in the Constitution of Belarus. It is ensured by compulsory secondary schools, vocational schools, and higher educational establishments. It is also ensured by the development of extramural and evening courses and the system of state scholarships and grants.

Education in Belarus is compulsory up to the 9^th form inclusive. The stages of compulsory schooling in Belarus are: primary education for ages 6-7 to 9-10 inclusive: intermediate school for ages 10-11 to 12-13 inclusive, and senior school for ages 13-14 to 14-15 inclusive. If pupils of a secondary school wishes to go on in higher education, they must stay at school for two more years. Primary and secondary school together comprise 11 years of study. Every school has a ‘core curriculum’ or academic subjects, such as Russian, Belarussian, Literature, Mathematics, History, a foreign language and others. Lyceums and Gymnasiums offer programs giving a profound knowledge in some field of study.

After finishing the 9^th form one can go on to a vocational school which offers programmers of academic subjects and a programmer of training in a technical field, or a profession

After finishing the 11^th form of a secondary school, a lyceum or a gymnasium one can go on in higher education. All applicants must take competitive examinations. Higher educational institutions, that is, institutes and universities, offer a 5-year programmer of academic subjects for undergraduates in a variety of fields, as well as a postgraduate course.

All secondary schools, institutes and universities until recently have been funded by state. Now there is quite a number of private fee-paying schools and universities

The system of education in Great Britain.

Children in Great Britain do not have to go to school until they reach the age of five and only very few go to nursery schools where they learn such things as numbers, letters, and colors and may begin to read and write.

Primary education takes place in infant school (pupils aged from 5 to 7 years and junior schools (from 8 to 11 years). Secondary schools take pupils from the age of 11 up to 18. Compulsory secondary education lasts five years. In the fifth form at the age of 16 students may either leave school or continue their education in the sixth form. Nowadays most British children go to comprehensive schools which take pupils of all abilities without any exams. Comprehensive schools offer a wide choice of subjects from art and craft to computer studying and sciences. All pupils move to the next class automatically at the end of the year. At the end of the fifth form pupils take their first public exam for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). Many people decide to leave school at the age of 16, and they can go to a Further Education College where they choose more practical courses, for example engineering, typing, hairdressing. Pupils who stay on into the sixth form, lasting two years, prepare for their “A” Level Exams. “A” stands for “Advanced”. Good “A” Level results in two-five subjects are necessary to get a place at one of the British universities.

Free secondary education is available to all children in Great Britain. Nevertheless some parents choose to pay for private education. Private or independent schools are called public schools, they are expensive. In a lot of public schools pupils live as well as study. They are called boarding schools. The most famous public schools are Harrow, Winchester, Eton. They are known for their high academic standards and are considered prestigious.

L ight is better than darkness, knowledge is better than ignorance