Topic II    Private  education  in Great  Britain and Russia                                                                                   

Active  vocabulary that  must be used:

the desire  to  get knowledge

requirements of the  society.                             

to  focus the    attention  on  the  child’s personality

a good  school  must  fit a child, not a child  fit the school

an opportunity not  only to  study but to  develop              

public schools

private schools

to be abolished

to be well organized and  structured

to  have  strict  rules and  long  traditions

to  make the  education available to all (to the  public)

to  pay fees

to  legislate to  give all the  children in the  land a state  education

to be  independent  of government  control  

to change   a  lot (very little)      during the last  hundred  years.

masters  teach in suits and wear  gowns  

to wear  motor boards and  raise  them  to the  boys as the  boys raise their hats to the  teachers  

traditional  formality                                

a  boarding house    

to change    at a  deeper  level  very  much indeed  

curriculum 

to be   changed fundamentally                     

to be   banned  by  smb                                                                  

to be run as a  little  village                      

to encourage  pupils     to treat  other people  as they would be treated   

to be physically punished at  school

to  encourage   to  do something  back for the  community

debating  (science,  philosophy) society                                                    

to abolish  the   system of private  education

commercial  education  

free education

to comprehend the    advantages

to improve  the quality of knowledge   

to feel responsibility

to admit that                    

to be properly  organized and  structured 

Approximate  /  average  topic:                    

Private  education in  Great  Britain and  Russia

        Schools  have always  been  the life and sole of any educated and  cultured  society.  The desire to  get knowledge was  inherent even to  ancient  people. We can say  that at that very  historical  moment when  our ancient  ancestor  began  to  feel himself a part of a large world and  began to  investigate  this  immense  world  he  might have  felt a  strong necessity   to transfer his  knowledge to   future  generations.  As  the  centuries were  changing  one  another  schools  were  also  changing  due  to  the requirements of the  society.                            

         Schools  all over the  world in our  days  focus their  attention  on  the  child’s personality. As  the  director of one  school said “a good  school  must  fit a child, not a child  fit the school”. During  the  school years  children  must have  an opportunity not  only to  study but to  develop.  There are so many  types pf schools in our  days -  public schools,  private schools, home schools which  are popular in the USA  in our days. There are so many  discussions about  private schools  in our  days.  Such schools were  very popular in  Russia in the  19^th century, then they  were  abolished. About 10  years ago  private schools  began to  be opened in Russia  again.  In all   the  western  countries  private  schools have a  very  long  history,  so  they  are  well organized and  structured,  have  strict  rules and  long  traditions.

        Private schools were  founded  before the government  made state  education  available to all. Before 1900  all the independent schools  were available to the  total  public.  They had to pay fees and that is where the  name  public  came from. Once the government  began to  legislate to  give all the  children in the  land a state  education then the  public schools  which were indeed  private  changed their  name to  being  ‘independent’, in other words independent  of government  control.

         One of the  private schools  is  Harrow  School.   Harrow  School   is one of the  old  schools in  Britain and  if  a  foreigner  came  to  it  he would  think  this school  hadn’t  changed  indeed   during the last  hundred  years. The boys  wear straw  hats, they wear  old  what is called a  blazer,  a  kind of  garment  during a week; they wear  tails on a  Sunday, the senior  boys  wear  top  hats.  All the  masters  have  to teach  in suits and wear  gowns. Teachers  wear  motor boards and they  raise  them  to the  boys as they  the  boys raise their hats to the  teachers. There is a  traditional  formality  along the  High  Street.  Once you dive into the  classroom or into  a  boarding house or into the  study  you’ll be able to  see that  the place has  changed   at a  deeper  level  very  much indeed. But the curriculum  has   changed fundamentally of course.  For  example  Fox  Talboy  started  a  photography in  Britain and he  started  his  experiments  in that  very  school, but was  banned  by the  headmaster  as he did  not  want  chemistry to be taught.  In our  days  Latin and  Greek  is  taught in  this  school as they were  taught in 1570. Pupils also  study craft design technology, Russian,  computer sciences,  etc. This school  presents  a  village on the hill.   There are 770 boys  at school between the ages of 13 and 18.  Over 200 of  people are  employed in this school and they  all live  on the  hill with  their   families. The school is  really run as a  little  village.

          Teachers encourage  pupils   to treat  other people  as they would be treated. Boys  are  not  physically punished at  school,   they  are  encouraged to  do something  back for the  community. For example in the morning you can  see  one senior boy with a  group  of  naughty boys - they  are clearing  up all the  litter over the  main  public  building  and streets  of Harrow  School in order to  keep  the environment  clean  and  tidy. They feel  strongly  in Harrow  School that they  educate the  whole  man.  Boys are at school 24  hours a  day and  so teachers  have a  good  opportunity  to teach  children  in the classroom  in the  afternoon and  then in the  evening they  devote some time to such activities as  acting, music,  art, all kinds of  games, etc. There are  also  a lot  of  societies at  school – debating society, science society, philosophy society, etc.

          As it was  mentioned  earlier  many  traditions  of Russian  private school  were  lost during the  previous century. And  now  we  try to  restore  them or better to say to  build  anew. In the  18^th  century  children of  famous and  intelligent  people in  Russia  were  taught in private schools, gymnasiums and  lyceums. It was  really  popular and  prestigious  to  study  in  private  educational  institution. In the  20^th century the Bolsheviks came to the  power and the  system of private  education was  abolished. All     the  schools  became state  schools and  free. But in 1990 the  Soviet Union  fell  apart and a  lot of  reforms  in different  fields of human  activities  began.  All  the  changes and reforms  touched  upon  school education –  a  lot  of  private schools  have appeared.

          Unfortunately in our  country  there is still a  prejudice against  commercial  education. A lot of people think that  private  institutes give  very poor  knowledge. And children  studying in such  institutes don’t  have to make  any  effort at all. These  institutes are  not famous  yet and  people  are afraid that after  graduating from them they  will  have a  lot of difficulties in  finding a  place to work or to  study. 

           But  on the other hand some people   think that the  diploma  of a  prestigious  university is  much  more important than  knowledge.  They forget that  when you  apply to work  you should show  not  only  your ‘paper’ but  first of all  your good  knowledge.

In the  USA,  by the way,  there isn’t  such a  notion as ‘free education’. All the institutes are  paid for. Such  famous  Universities as  Cambridge and  Yale are  private. As for our country people  don’t  trust private Universities yet. It happens   partially  because  people  can’t  see and  comprehend their  advantages.  But there are some  advantages in  fact: small  groups, even at the  lectures  there are  not  more than 30  students.   This leads to  perfect discipline and  improves the quality of knowledge. And moreover,  when  students  understand that  parents have to  pay for their  education  they  fell responsibility and  begin to study better.

          So in spite  of all the  prejudices  against  private  schools   we must  admit  that  private  education  when  properly  organized and  structured  has  a  lot of  advantages.