The System of Education in Russia - Система образования в России     

The System of Education in Russia        The system of education in Russia is very much the same as in other highly developed countries. It is based on the Soviet education, but it has been gradually changing since the creation of the new Russian state. There are nurseries and kindergartens for little children aged from 2 to 6. The level of kindergartens has become considerably higher in recent years. Children play games, go for walks, have regular meals there. But the lessons of reading, arithmetic, drawing and other subjects have become more complicated than they were in the kindergartens ten years ago. There are the kindergartens where children learn foreign languages. At the age of 6 or 7 Russian children go to secondary schools. Our children are also streamed into different forms according to their abilities. There are forms А, В and so on. The forms under the first two letters of the alphabet are for the cleverest pupils. The level of education in Russian secondary schools is rather high. Children receive primary education during the first three or four years. Then they enter the middle school, usually without any examinations. The pupils of the middle schools study Russian and foreign languages, Russian literature, algebra, geometry, physics, chemistry and biology. They have their final examinations in the ninth form. Then the pupils may leave school and enter some professional college or receive full-time secondary education in the tenth and eleventh forms. The program of the last two years is the most complicated one. Besides the subjects mentioned above, it often includes trigonometry, organic chemistry and astronomy. Pupils get the necessary knowledge for entering the universities and institutes. There are some special schools where pupils have advanced programs in physics, mathematics or foreign languages. Every city in Russia has at least one university and several institutes. The oldest Russian universities are the Moscow State University, the University of St. Petersburg and some others.   Questions: 1. Is the system of education in Russia highly developed? 2. What establishments are organized for children from 2 to 6? 3. What do children do in the kindergartens? 4. What subjects do they study? 5. Did you learn any foreign language in the kindergarten? 6. What age is the compulsory school age in Russia? Vocabulary: gradually постепенно creation создание nursery ясли considerably значительно full-time secondary education полное среднее образование besides кроме mentioned упомянутый trigonometry тригонометрия organic chemistry органическая химия entry поступление advanced продвинутый, углубленный at least no меньшей мере