Education

Primary education in state schools:

While education for pre-school children in nursery schools is voluntary, compalsory schooling obliges British children of school age (between 5 and 16) to attend a primary school before proceeding to secondary school at eleven. The American equivalent for children between 6 and 12 is elementary school. In both countries formal education at this level stresses basic skills like the '3 Rs'.

A day at a British secondary school:

Pupils at a day school leave home in time to reach school by nine o'clock for morning assembly in the school hall, after which the first period begins. In the course of the morning and afternoon the teachers give lessons in the various subjects on the curriculum, e.g. English language and literature, maths, a foreign language, social studies, music, art, sci­ence (physics, biology and chemistry), history, geography, PE (physical education) etc. The school day ends between 3 and 4 pm, when all pupils except boarders in public schools can go home.

Many pupils are involved in extra-curricular activities like acting or singing in the school choir.

A year at a British secondary school:

After the summer holidays the first term begins and work starts on the year's syllabus. The topics, texts and subjects to be studied vary accord­ing to which stream pupils at comprehensive schools have been placed in. Tests are given regularly so that continuous assessment can be made of a pupil's performance. Written and oral examinations must be taken/sat. A wide range of non-academic subjects is also offered: CDT (craft, design, technology), information technology, metalwork, home economics, carpentry etc. At the end of the third term, just before school breaks up for the summer holidays, pupils receive their school reports with their marks.

School-leaving examinations in Britain:

Pupils not interested in an academic career may decide to leave school at about 16, after completing the fifth form. They have a better chance of finding employment in commerce and industry, for which they have been prepared by vocational guidance and vocational training, if they have passed the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). This examination has replaced both the Certificate of Secondary Educa­tion (CSE) and the General Certificate of Education (GCE) O (Ordinary) level.

Academically-minded pupils may, after passing this lower-level exam, choose to spend two years in the sixth form and specialize in the subjects for which they show an aptitude. Those who make the grade by passing two (or more) A (Advanced) levels have qualified for entrance to university or other institutions of higher education.

Tertiary education:

After passing their A levels (or, in the USA, obtaining their high school diploma), those people wishing to continue their education at university or college level enroll at a university or other institution of higher (= tertiary) education, which awards diplomas or degrees in a wide variety of fields such as medicine, law, economics, computer science etc. Some universities in Britain and the USA enjoy particular prestige, e.g. Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) or the American 'Ivy League' universities like Harvard, Princeton and Yale, all of which can afford to select only those students with the best grades.

Many students live on the campus, especially first-year and second-year students (US: freshmen and sophomores), while third-year and fourth-year students (US: juniors and seniors) usually rent rooms or flats else­where. In Britain, after three years of study undergraduates who have successfully participated in seminars and tutorials and attended lectures sit their examinations. Those who pass are awarded a bachelor's degree in Arts (B.A.), Science (B.Sc.) etc, depending on what subjects they have majored in. After graduating they may choose to devote an additional year to studying for a master's degree (MA., M.Sc. etc.), which often includes writing a thesis. They may then do postgraduate research and write a dissertation for a doctorate or a doctor's degree (Ph.D. etc.).

Topical issues in education:

• the threat of a possible decline in educational standards,

• a growth in violence at inner-city schools, especially in the USA,

• the problem of drug abuse and drug addiction in US schools,

• the tendency of more and more pupils to drop out of school,

• an increase in truancy,

• a teacher shortage in some subjects, a surplus in other subjects,

• a chronic shortage of money invested by the state in its schools, in laboratories, books, equipment etc.

nursery school [´nɜ:s(ǝ)rɪ] [sku:l] дитячий садок

compulsory schooling [kǝm´pʌls(ǝ)rɪ] обов‘язкова шкільна

освіта

to attend  [ǝ´tend] відвідувати

primary school (BE)   [´praɪm(ǝ)rɪ] початкова школа

secondary school  [´sekǝnd(ǝ)rɪ] середня школа

elementary school (AE)  [ˏelɪ´ment(ǝ)rɪ] початкова школа

the 'three Rs' (reading, [´rɪ:dɪŋ] [´raɪtɪŋ]  читання, письмо

writing and arithmetic) [ˏærɪθ´metɪk] і арифметика

day school  [´deɪsku:l] школа без пансіону

assembly  [ǝ´semblɪ] збори

school hall [hͻ:l] шкільний зал

period [´pɪ(ǝ)rɪǝd] період

subject  [´sʌbdʒɪkt] предмет, дисципліна   

curriculum [kǝ´rɪkjυlǝm] програма

social studies    [´sǝυʃ(ǝ)l] [´stʌdɪ] суспільні науки

boarder  [´bͻ:dǝ] учень інтернату

public school  [´pʌblɪk] державна школа

extra-curricular   [´ekstrǝ] [kǝ´rɪkjυlǝ] позакласні заняття

to act  [ækt] виступати

choir   [´kwaɪǝ] хоровий ансамбль, хор

term  [tɜ:m] семестр

syllabus  [´sɪlǝbǝs] план; програма 

stream  [stri:m] напрямок

comprehensive school [ˏkɒmprɪ´hensɪv] загальноосвітня школа

assessment   [ǝ´sesmǝnt] оцінка

performance   [pǝ´fͻ:mǝns] продуктивність

oral [´ͻ:rǝl] усний

to sit an examination [ɪɡˏzæmɪ´neɪʃ(ǝ)n] здавати екзамен

craft [krɑ:ft] трудове навчання

information technology [ˏɪnfǝ´meɪʃ(ǝ)n] інформаційна

[tek´nɒlǝdlǝdʒɪ] технологія

metalwork [´metlwɜ:k] металообробка

home economics   [hǝυm] [ˏekǝ´nɒmɪks] домоведення (як

предмет )

carpentry [´kɑ:pɪntrɪ] столярна справа

to break up [´breɪkʌp] розвал, розруха, розпад

school report [sku:l] [rɪ´pͻ:t] звіт про успішність

mark (BE) [mɑ:k] оцінка

career   [kǝ´rɪǝ] кар’єра, професія

form   [fͻ:m] клас

vocational guidance [vǝυ´keɪʃ(ǝ)nǝl]

[´ɡaɪd(ǝ)ns] професійна орієнтація

vocational training [´vǝυ´keɪʃ(ǝ)nǝl] професійна підготовка,

[´treɪnɪŋ] проф.-тех. освіта

aptitude [´æptɪtu:d] здібність; обдарованість

to make the grade [ɡreɪd] досягти успіху

to pass (an examination) [pɑ:s] витримати іспит

tertiary [´tɜ:ʃɪ(ǝ)rɪ] вища освіта

to enroll   [ɪn´rǝυl] вносити в список

to award [ǝ´wͻ:d] нагорода (присуджена)

degree [dɪ´ɡrɪ:] ступінь, степінь

economics   [ˏekǝ´nɒmɪks] економіка (дисципліна)

computer science   [kǝm´pju:tǝ] [´saɪǝns] обчислювальна техніка

(як наукова дисципліна)

prestige   [pre´sti:ʒ] репутація, престиж

grade (AE) [ɡreɪd] бал

campus   [´kæmpǝs] університетське

містечко

undergraduate [´ʌndǝˏɡrædʒυɪt] студент останнього

курсу

tutorial [tju:´tͻ:rɪǝl] консультація

lecture [´lektʃǝ] лекція

to major in   [´meɪdʒǝ] спеціалізуватися в

to graduate [´ɡrædjυeɪt] випускник (звич. вузу)

thesis [´θi:sɪs] дипломна робота

postgraduate  research [ˏpǝυst´ɡrædjυɪt] аспірантура

dissertation [ˏdɪsǝ´teɪʃ(ǝ)n] дисертація

doctorate [´dɒkt(ǝ)reɪt] докторантура

doctor's degree [dɪ´ɡrɪ:] вчена ступінь доктора

наук

drug abuse [drʌɡ] [ǝ´bju:s] зловживання ліками

to drop out [´drɒp´aυt] пропускати школу

truancy   [´tru:ǝnsɪ] прогул

shortage [´ʃͻ:tɪdʒ] недолік, недостача

surplus [´sɜ:plǝs] надлишок

to invest [ɪn´vest] інвестування

laboratory [lǝ´bɒrǝtrɪ] лабораторія