Higher education in GB

Compulsory school leaving age is 16. At the age of 16 children in the UK have the following options:

1- go to work

2- go to the 6^th form or to the 6^th College which is considered to be an intermediate stage btw the compulsory studying and higher education. At the end of the 6^th form children will sit the GCSE A-level or AS level exam.

3- The following option is to go to the Colleges of Further Education where you can get some vocational training/ hairdressing, typing, etc.

4- The youth opportunities schemes, this scheme places young unemployed people with a business or an industry for 6 months so they can get experience.

At the age of 18-19 young people can enter the establishments of Higher Education leading to a degree or the Establishments of Further Education which do not award a degree.

HE in GB is provided by universities, polytechnics and colleges of HE.

Universities fall into 4 broad categories: the ancient English foundations, the ancient Scottish one, the redbrick universities and ‘the plate glass’ one.

To the ancient English foundations refer Cambridge and Oxford Universities founded in the 13^th and 14^th cent., which are considered to be the most famous and prestigious. Both universities grew gradually as federations of independent colleges. Attendance at lectures in Oxford and Cambridge is not obligatory. The basis of tuition is tutorial.

The ancient Scottish foundations are Glasgow, Edinburgh, St. Andrews and Aberdeen universities, founded in the 15^th and 16^th cent. They have strong links with European universities, provide 4-year undergraduate course, compared with the usual 3-year course in England and Wales.

Redbrick or ‘civil’ universities were established as a result of the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of Britain’s empire oversea because the demand for educated people greatly increased. They were sited in the industrial centers (Birmingham, Manchester). They were based more on the mass lecture system. The most famous one is London University.

With the expansion of HE in the 1960s many more ‘plate glass’ universities were established. After some initial enthusiasm for universities they had become less popular than older institutions.

Open University provides every person in the UK with the opportunity to study for a degree without leaving their homes.

Polytechnics provide a range of HE courses/ but their real purpose is to fill the gap btw University and Further Education. They combine academic studies which are the characteristic feature of HE and technical studies focused on practical work, a feature of FE Colleges of HE.

Further Education establishments fall into:

1 Lower level courses: Colleges of FE and Technical Colleges

2 Middle level courses: Colleges of Technology, Specialized Colleges (agricultural, printing)

One more type is “Tertiary College”. It is an amalgamation in one establishment both technical and academic areas (amalgamation of the 6^th form and a technical college)

Characteristic features of the HE system in the UK:

1) “sandwich” course is the period of academic studies which is interrupted by a period of practical study:

‘+’ gives you a better idea of what you are going to do

‘-’ from economic point of view courses are longer, more tiresome and you pay more

2) tutorials rather than mass lecture system

10. School education in the USA: pros and cons.

The Americans believe that every citizen has both the right and the obligation to become educated. In order to develop an educated population, all states have compulsory school attendance laws which require formal schooling begin by the age 6 and continue until at least age 16. However, most Americans attend school at least until high school graduation when they are 17/18 years old.

Most American children receive their elementary and high school education in the nation’s public schools. These schools are supported by taxes and do not charge tuitions. In general they are neighbourhood schools, open to all students who live within the district.Boys and girls attend the same schools and have classes together. Public schools follow some state guidelines regarding for example curriculum and teacher qualifications. But these schools are locally controlled, each district school is run by an elected Board of Education and the school administrators that Board hires. Public schools are secular, so children of many different religions feel comfortable attending school. Thus public school help a diverse population build a common structure. There are also private schools. They can be of 2 types: parochial (supported by a particular religious group) and secular. Private schools are not under direct public control, although some states set educational standards for them. To attend a private school a student must apply and be accepted.

There is Early School Education in the USA, it means that by the age of 5, 87 % of American children attend schools, most of them in pre-academic classes called Kindergartens. However many American youngsters, attend school before the age of 5 through nursery schools or day care attendance. Nursery schools accept children from 3 to 5 for half-day sessions from 2 to 5 days a week. Day care programs offer all-day care for the children of working parents. Free public education begins with Kindergarten classes for 5-year olds. The primary purpose is socialization with gaining some skills and information (identifying colours, counting, listening to stories). After Kindergarten children begin their academic studies. Schooling is devided into 12 grades (years). Academic work begins when children enter 1^st degree,at about age 6. The first academic institution is called elementary school or grammar school. It lasts toll the 8^th grade. The next 4 years are called high school. In some school systems there is junior high school which includes grades 6 to 8.

If to analyse American school system, it is possible to define positive and negative features. So positive ones that there is a diversity in school system. There are different types of schools and innovated approach. The broad scope of curriculum, decentralization, bilingual education for those, who don’t know English. American high schools have a dual commitement of high school, AP(advanced placement) courses, a tracking system. There is practical schooling included into the educational system and the introduction of “The no child left behind act”.

But as I’ve mentioned, there are minuses and among them: low academic performance, problems with discipline, unqualified teachers, tuition and discrimination.