21British and American systems of education

14. Advantages and disadvantages of the British and American systems of education

The educational system of G.B. is extremely complex and bewildering. It is very difficult to generalize about particular types of schools as schools differ from one to the other. The department of education and science is responsible for national educational policy, but it doesn't employ teachers or prescribe curriculum or text books.

Each school has its own board of governors consisting of teachers, parents, local politicians, members of local community, businessmen and sometimes pupils. Schooling for children is compulsory from 5 to 16, though some provision is made for children under 5 and some pupils remain at school after 16 to prepare for higher education.

The state school system is usually divided into 2 stages (secondary and primary). The majority of primary schools are mixed. They are subdivided into infant schools (ages 5 to 7), and junior schools (ages 7 to 11). In junior schools pupils were often placed in A, B, C or D-streams, according to their abilities. Under the pressure of progressive parents and teachers the 11+ examination has now been abolished in most parts of the country.

There are some types of schools in G.B. Grammar schools provided an academicals cause for selected pupils from the age of 11 to 18. Only those children who have the best results are admitted to these schools. They give pupils a high level of academic education witch can lead to the university. Technical Schools offer a general education with a technical bias and serve those pupils who are more mechanically minded. The curricular includes more science and mathematics.

Secondary modern schools were formed to provide a non-academic education for children of lesser attainment. The curricular includes more practical subjects. The comprehensive schools bring about a general improvement in the system of secondary education.

“Preparation for adult life» includes training in the skills required for a job. Vocational courses are concerned with the teaching of job-related skills. Vocational training always has had a relatively low status in Britain. The «practical» and the «vocational» courses have seldom given access to university or to the prestigious and professional jobs.

In addition there are a large number of specialize higher education institutions in the realm of the performing and visual arts. For example, there a four leading conservatories: the Royal Academy Music, the Royal College of Music, Trinity College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.

With the expansion of higher education in the 1960s 'plate-glass' universities were established, some named after counties or regions rather than old cities, for example Sussex, Kent, East Anglia and Strathclyde. Over 50 polytechnics and similar higher education institutes acquired university status in 1992. There is also a highly successful Open University, which provides every person in Britain with the opportunity to study for a degree, without leaving their home. It is particularly designed for adults who missed the opportunity for higher education earlier in life. It conducts learning through correspondence, radio and television, and also through local study centers.

Oxford and Cambridge, founded in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries respectively, are easily the most famous of Britain's universities. Today 'Oxbridge', as the two together are known, educate less than one-twentieth of Britain's total university student population. But they continue to attract many of the best brains and to mesmerize an even greater number, partly on account of their prestige, but also on account of the seductive beauty of many of their buildings and surroundings.

As with the schools system, so also with higher education: there is a real problem about the exclusivity of Britain's two oldest universities. While Oxbridge is no longer the preserve of a social elite it retains its exclusive, narrow and spell-binding culture. Together with the public school system, it creates a narrow social and intellectual channel from which the nation's leaders are almost exclusively drawn. In 1996 few people were in top jobs in the Civil Service, the armed forces, the law or finance, who had not been either to a public school or Oxbridge, or to both.

14. Advantages and disadvantages of the British and American systems of education

The educational system of G.B. is extremely complex and bewildering. It is very difficult to generalize about particular types of schools as schools differ from one to the other. The department of education and science is responsible for national educational policy, but it doesn't employ teachers or prescribe curriculum or text books.

Each school has its own board of governors consisting of teachers, parents, local politicians, members of local community, businessmen and sometimes pupils. Schooling for children is compulsory from 5 to 16, though some provision is made for children under 5 and some pupils remain at school after 16 to prepare for higher education.

The state school system is usually divided into 2 stages (secondary and primary). The majority of primary schools are mixed. They are subdivided into infant schools (ages 5 to 7), and junior schools (ages 7 to 11). In junior schools pupils were often placed in A, B, C or D-streams, according to their abilities. Under the pressure of progressive parents and teachers the 11+ examination has now been abolished in most parts of the country.

There are some types of schools in G.B. Grammar schools provided an academicals cause for selected pupils from the age of 11 to 18. Only those children who have the best results are admitted to these schools. They give pupils a high level of academic education witch can lead to the university. Technical Schools offer a general education with a technical bias and serve those pupils who are more mechanically minded. The curricular includes more science and mathematics.

Secondary modern schools were formed to provide a non-academic education for children of lesser attainment. The curricular includes more practical subjects. The comprehensive schools bring about a general improvement in the system of secondary education.

“Preparation for adult life» includes training in the skills required for a job. Vocational courses are concerned with the teaching of job-related skills. Vocational training always has had a relatively low status in Britain. The «practical» and the «vocational» courses have seldom given access to university or to the prestigious and professional jobs.

In addition there are a large number of specialize higher education institutions in the realm of the performing and visual arts. For example, there a four leading conservatories: the Royal Academy Music, the Royal College of Music, Trinity College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.

With the expansion of higher education in the 1960s 'plate-glass' universities were established, some named after counties or regions rather than old cities, for example Sussex, Kent, East Anglia and Strathclyde. Over 50 polytechnics and similar higher education institutes acquired university status in 1992. There is also a highly successful Open University, which provides every person in Britain with the opportunity to study for a degree, without leaving their home. It is particularly designed for adults who missed the opportunity for higher education earlier in life. It conducts learning through correspondence, radio and television, and also through local study centers.

Oxford and Cambridge, founded in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries respectively, are easily the most famous of Britain's universities. Today 'Oxbridge', as the two together are known, educate less than one-twentieth of Britain's total university student population. But they continue to attract many of the best brains and to mesmerize an even greater number, partly on account of their prestige, but also on account of the seductive beauty of many of their buildings and surroundings.

As with the schools system, so also with higher education: there is a real problem about the exclusivity of Britain's two oldest universities. While Oxbridge is no longer the preserve of a social elite it retains its exclusive, narrow and spell-binding culture. Together with the public school system, it creates a narrow social and intellectual channel from which the nation's leaders are almost exclusively drawn. In 1996 few people were in top jobs in the Civil Service, the armed forces, the law or finance, who had not been either to a public school or Oxbridge, or to both.