Task 1. Read the text and answer the following questions:
1. How many faculties does the academy have? What are they?
2. What does the academy possess?
3. How much does the course of studies last here?
Barnaul is one of the most ancient cities of Western Siberia. The city is situated in a very picturesque place on the bank of the river Ob. Barnaul is a big industrial, cultural and scientific centre. There are 6 higher educational institutions in the city and the only one which gives artistic and cultural education is the Altai State Academy of Culture and Arts. It is one of the young academies of the country. It was founded in 1974 and was called the Institute of Culture at that time. It had 2 faculties: the faculty of culture and education and the faculty of librarianship. At present 5 faculties are open to applicants. They are faculties of librarianship, music, artistic creation, choreography and additional education. About 3000 students are enrolled in the Academy study in the day and extra-mural departments. Besides preparatory study is organized in more than 20 specially oriented classes of Barnaul secondary schools. Nearly 400 school-children have a special training provided by the Academy. The academic programmes train students in about 30 professions. New specialties have appeared at the Academy: manager-producer, interpreter in the sphere of professional communication and so on. Now the Academy really takes the leading place among different Institutions of Culture and Arts of our country. It is a complex which includes 3 academic buildings, a voluminous library where students can obtain information both on their own specialty and on general educational subjects. The process of education is ensured by 21 chairs, where highly qualified specialists work. Scientists and lecturers of the Academy have worked out modern educational technologies. They have had basic monographs in the spheres of History, Sociology and Culture of Siberian peoples published.
There is a Thesis Defending Board at the Academy. International and Russian scientific conferences are regularly held at the Academy. The Academy provides a very good training of highly qualified specialists in different fields of culture. The Academy possesses modern buildings for study, students’ hostels, scientific research laboratories, a computer stock, publishing house, a preventive clinic and a gym-hall. New information technologies for education are being worked out and widely used in the Academy.
After passing entrance exams successfully, students are enrolled into the Academy on the competitive basis. They are offered 3 scientific branches and 8 specialties while being admitted to the Academy. The course of studies at the academy lasts for five years. The classes begin in September; they are over in June. Students study in two shifts. Usually they have three or four classes a day. Students’ work is given a mark on a five-point scale. The academic year is divided into two terms. After each term students take exams. Twice a year, after each session, students have vacations – two weeks in winter and two months in summer. During the first and the second year they study general subjects. In the 3d year they begin to study special subjects. The theory imparted in lectures is backed up by practical academic and outside work.
Higher education today is not only a collection of useful facts and theories but also a process, which trains a person to analyze and interrelate various ideas as well as make decisions. The purpose of education is to teach a person the way to learn, to get new knowledge in their narrow field and the technique of making a research. At the same time it is a serious educational and psychological factor, as the specific character of research bodies develops a critical perception of the studied material, self-dependent thinking and creative activity. The principal directions of the research work are social activity and pedagogies. In the final year students write Diploma papers and take state exams. On graduation students receive Diplomas of Specialists. Admission to the postgraduate courses is for 3 specialties.
There are different students’ organizations in the Academy. They are responsible for deciding all questions concerning students’ welfare and social amenities. Students’ amateur activities have been flourishing at the Academy.
TEXT 3. FURTHER AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN
Task 1. Read the text and answer the following questions:
1. What can you say about further education in Great Britain?
2. How many universities are there in Great Britain?
3. What specialist higher educational institutions can you name?
Further education has traditionally been characterized by part-time vocational courses for those who leave school at the age of 16 but need to acquire a skill, be that in the manual, technical or clerical field. Vocational training is conducted at the country’s 550 colleges is bound to be an important component.
As for higher education there are today 90 universities. They fall into 5 broad categories: the medieval English foundations, the medieval Scottish ones, the 19th-century “redbrick” ones, the 20th-century “plate-glass” ones, and finally polytechnics. They are all private institutions, receiving direct grants from central government.
Oxford and Cambridge, founded in the 13th and 14th centuries respectively, are easily the most famous of Britain’s universities. Today “Oxbridge”, as the two together are known, educate less then one-twentieth of Britain’s total university student population. But they continue to attract many of the best brains on account of their prestige as well as on account of the seductive beauty of many of their buildings and surroundings.
Scotland boasts four ancient universities: Glasgow, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Aberdeen, all founded in the 15th and 16th centuries. These universities were created with strong links with the ancient universities of continental Europe, and followed their longer and broader course of studies. Even today, Scottish universities provide four-year undergraduate courses, compared with the usual three-year courses in England and Wales.
In the 19th century more universities were established to respond to the demand for educated people as a result of the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of Britain’s empire.
With the expansion of higher education in the 1960s “plate-glass” universities were established. They were named after counties or regions, for example Sussex, Kent and East Anglia. 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 designed for adults who missed the opportunity for higher education earlier in life. It conducts learning through correspondence, radio and TV, and also through local study centers.
In addition there are a large number of specialist higher education institutions in the realm of the performing and visual arts. For example, there are four leading conservatories: the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, Trinity College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. There are a large number of art colleges, of which the most famous is the Royal College of Art, where both Henry Moor and David Hockney once studied. Other colleges cater for dance, filmmaking and other specialist areas of study.