In Great Britain children start going to school when they are five and continue studying until they are 16 or older. Compulsory education begins at the age of five when they go to primary school. Primary education lasts foe six years. First they attend the infant school from five to seven.
In infant schools children don’t have real classes. They get acquainted with the class - room, desks, play and through plating. They learn numbers and how to add them. When children are seven they go to junior school which they attend until eleven. Boys and girls study at junior school for four years. There they have classes, read and write, do mathematics.
At secondary school pupils study English, Maths, Science, Geography, History, Art, Music, Foreign languages and PT. there are some types of secondary schools in Great Britain. They are grammar school, modern schools and comprehensive schools. One can attend modern school but of a modern school don’t learn foreign languages.
If they go to grammar school they will have a good secondary education. This type of school is most popular in England. At secondary school pupils study English, Maths, Science, Geography, History, Art, Music, Foreign languages and PT lessons. English, Maths and Science are called ‘core’ subjects. Pupils take examinations in the core subjects at the age of 7, 11 and 14.
There are some private schools in England. Boys and girls do not together study at these schools. The son and daughters of aristocracy go to these schools. Their parents pay much money for the education in private schools. The teachers of these schools pay personal attention to each pupil.
Group B: Education in Kazakhstan.
We started school at the age of seven. After four years of primary school we went to secondary school. Primary and secondary schools together comprise eleven years of classes are compulsory in our republic.
Our school year began on the first of September and ended in May. It lasted 9 months. We had four holidays a year: winter, spring, summer and autumn. On the 1st of September we got acquainted with our teachers and had our first lessons. Every lesson lasted 45 minutes. Every day we had 5 or 6 lessons.
The primary school curriculum included such as subjects Kazakh, Maths, Russian, Drawing, PT and Music. We had also Nature classes. Our school was not English but we had English classes which started in the 2nd form.
Recently Kazakhstan has also developed several types of schools with greater specialization such as gymnasium, technical, lyceums and private schools. Education is free, except those which work on a commercial basic.
Today the educational system in Kazakhstan is presented by two languages: Kazakh and Russian. Primary education is the most developed of the state’s educational system. Pupils receive their primary education in schools of three different levels. Primary 1 - 4 grades, middle 5 - 9 grades and junior 10 - 11 grades. After finishing the 9th grade children continue education in high schools in technical - professional institutes, or in special schools.
