EDUCATION 2

of the university there is a Vice-Chancellor but it is only a honorary title.


Education system in the United States

In the USA there isn(t a national system of education. Each of the 50 states has its own education system but Federal government often gives money to schools and has very little control over administration and curriculum. All schools are controlled by an elected local body (often elected from parents) and by the city and state in which the school is located. The majority of all schools are public schools, financed by the state and there are also private schools which are often single-sex and pupils wear uniform as well as Britain. The beginning of the school year very in each state from mid-August to mid-September and usually ends in May or June.

The age of school attendance is from 7 to 16 (or from 6 to 18) years. Every child gets minimum 13 years of education. School years in the USA are called grades and the whole attending is divided into (groups( of grades.
Pre-school and elementary education includes nursery and kindergartens which are up to age 5 and 6. Most of them are private and charge any money. In the elementary schools (from 6 to 11 years of age, 1st to 5th grade) pupils learn to read, write, do arithmetic, elementary science, history, geography, music, art and PE.

Secondary education * is provided by Junior High (from 11 to 14 years of age, 6th to 8th grade) and High Schools (from 15 to 18 years of age, 9th to 12th grade). Most schools offer the same curriculum: English, Maths, Science, Social studies, PE etc. This schools are comprehensive and some of them offer specialised courses such as business, computer science etc.
High schools generally organise much activity outstanding the classroom, many of them have football, basketball and baseball teams, an orchestra, a choir etc. The basic leaving school qualification is usually the High School Diploma or General Education Diploma (GED) which is awarded after passing an examination. There is no national school-leaving examination but national Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT; in mathematics and English) is used to help select students for colleges and university entrance. But finally they haven(t got any other tests to entrance higher education!
Marks in most US schools are: Excellent (A), Superior, above average (B), Satisfactory (C), Passing grade (D), Completely unsatisfactory (E).

About one third of high school graduates go on for some higher education. The system of higher education in the USA consist of following institutions:
I. Universities and colleges - its applicants are usually chosen on the basis of their high school records, recommendation from their high school teacher, some interviews or their scores on the SAT
II. Vo-techs (vocational-technical) institutions - high school graduates may take courses from six month to two years; they learn various technical skills (hair styling, business accounting, computer programming etc.) and after finishing people usually take up employment
III. Community colleges - provide vocational and semi-professional education for people with a High School Diploma for two years; than students may enter many professions

Bachelor(s degree (B.A. or B.S.) is given to students after successful completion of four years study. Bachelors graduates can study further by attending a postgraduate course to get the degree of Master (M.A. or M.S.) after one to three years of another study. The Doctoral Degrees are given after two to five years of another study.
The oldest and most respected universities - Harvard (1636), Yale University (1701), University of Pennsylvania (1740), Princeton University (1746) or College of Columbia (1754) are all private. The cost of university studies varies.
Each American university has its own curriculum. Undergraduate students must select their (major( - the field in which they want their degree, plus a certain number of (electives( or one (minor( subject.

Education system in the Czech Republic

The nowadays Czech system of education is quite new from the beginning of the 1990s and it was several reorganised during last years.
The school attendance is from 6 (7) to 15 (16) years and all chil