System of Education in Russia
The Russian Federation
The Russian federative republic is set up by the Constitution of 1993.
Under the Constitution Russia is a Presidential Republic. The federal government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Each of them is checked and balanced by the President.
The legislative power is vested in the Federal Assembly. It consists of two chambers. The Upper Chamber is the Council of Federation. The Lower Chamber is the State Duma (a Constituent Assembly). Legislature may be initiated in either of the two Chambers. But to become a law a bill must be approved by both chambers and signed by the President. The President may veto the bill.
The President serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he makes treates, enforces federal laws, appoints members of the executive departments to be approved by the Federal Assembly.
The executive power belongs to the Government which is headed by the Prime Minister. The first action of the Prime Minister on appointment is to choose the Ministers who are responsible for framing Government policy.
The judicial branch is represented by the Constitutional Court.
The members of the Federal Assembly are elected by popular vote for a four-year period.
Today the state symbol of Russia is a three coloured banner. It has three horizontal stripes: white, blue and red. The white stripe symbolizes the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one symbolizes liberty. A new national emblem is a two-headed eagle. It is the most ancient symbol of Russia. It originates from the heraldic emblem of the Ryricovitchies. All these symbols are official. They have been approved by the Federal Assembly.
SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN RUSSIA
Vocabulary:
concern – заботы, беспокойство
insure – обеспечивать
vocational school – профессиональное училище
extramural courses – заочные или вечерние курсы
correspondence courses – заочные курсы
provision – обеспечение
compulsory – обязательный
secondary – среднее (образование)
timetable – расписание
core subjects – основные предметы
applicant – претендент, кандидат
competitive – конкурирующий
thesis – диссертация, сочинение
council – совет
transitional – переходный, промежуточный
objective – цель
maintain – поддерживать
ration – зд. количество
rank (амер.) – занимать первое место
prospect – перспектива
advance – продвижение (по службе), успех
in the terms of – с точки зрения
Ex. 1. Mind the pronunciation:
insure [ ] lyceum [ ]
extramural [ ] privilege [ ]
knowledge [ ] mechanism [ ]
Ex. 2. Read and translate the text
System of Education in Russia
Citizens of Russia have always shown a great concern for education. The right to education is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It is insured by the broad development of compulsory secondary education, vocational specialized secondary and higher education, by the development of extramural, correspondence and evening courses, by the provisions of state scholarships, grants and privileges for students.
In Russia children get preschool education at the age of 3-4. Most of children attend kindergartens where they learn to read, write, count, draw, design simple things, sing, dance in the form of games.
In our country there is a nine-year compulsory education, but if you want to enter any higher educational establishment you have to study two years more.
School starts at the age of 6, which are called a primary school. This stage of learning lasts for 4 years. Children have many subjects on the time table: Russian, Maths, Nature Study, physical training (PT), Drawing, Music, Foreign Languages (in specialized schools). The main purpose of this stage is to teach children basic intellectual and social skills.
Secondary stage begins from 5th form where the children have a lot of new subjects like: Literature, History, Natural Science, Algebra and Geometry. Primary and secondary schools together comprise eleven years of study. Every school has a "core curriculum" of academic study.
Lyceums and gymnasiums offer programmers giving a profound knowledge in some field of study. Examinations are taken at the end of the 9th form and the 11th year. After passing their school-leaving exams at the age 16 or 17, young people receive a Certificate of Secondary Education.
Some children after finishing the 9th form can go to a vocational or technical secondary schools or colleges, where they can be offered programmes of academic subjects and a programme of training in a technical field, or a profession. After finishing the 11th form of a secondary school, a lyceum or gymnasium one can go on in higher education. Among higher educational institutions there are universities, institutions, academies and schools of higher education, where the course of studies is normally 5 years. All applicants must take competitive exams. Entrance examinations are held in July and August. Besides a 5-year programme of academic subjects for undergraduates in variety of fields a graduate course is also can be taken. If one finishes a graduate course and writes a thesis, he or she receives the candidate degree, corresponding to the master's degree, or the doctoral degree.
Higher as well as secondary education in our country is free although there are some universities, which charge fees.
Rectors head higher educational establishments. Prorectors are in charge of academic and scientific work. An institute or university has a number of faculties, each specializing in a field of study.
Faculties have specialized councils, which confer candidate and doctoral degrees.
The systems of secondary and higher education in Russia has gone through a transitional period. The main objectives of the reform are: decentralization of the higher education system, development of new financial mechanism, expansion of academic freedoms of faculties and students. All Russian schools until now have been state-maintained. In the terms of the ration of students to the total population Russia ranks among the top tens countries in the world. The Russian educational policy is a combination of economic and social subjects. An educated person contributes more to the society and education on the other hand gives a person the prospect for professional advance.
Our Academy
Khabarovsk State Academy of Economics and Law was formed on the base of Khabarovsk Institute of National Economy, established in 1970. In 1994 the Khabarovsk branches of Moscow Commercial University and Moscow State Juridical Academy were joined as the faculties of Khabarovsk Institute of National Economy.
The Institute was reorganized into the Academy according to the Order of the State Committee of Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
At the present time Khabarovsk State Academy of Economics and Law is one of the leading Universities of the Far East.
More than 11 thousand students are studying at the Academy. The training of the diploma-specialists is done by the six faculties in full-time, part-time, long or short term forms of education and also distance learning (part-time).There are 17 specialities and 20 specializations: law, management, banking, finance, insurance, taxes and taxation, accounting, auditing, statistics, foreign economic activities, commerce, marketing, advertising, tourism, information technologies in economy, mathematic methods in economy.
Academy is taking an active part in Bologna process and offers to get the education in multi-level programs:
- "Bachelor" in the following directions: economics, management, jurisprudence, commerce;
- "Master of International Business" in the following directions: financial management, strategic management, international business, enterprise economy.
Academy is actively developing international collaboration with the Universities of different country.
Foreign students can study at the Center of Cross-Cultural Communication having classes of the Russian language and Russian Culture. Foreign students can be tested in the Russian language knowledge (TORFL).
Two studying buildings, laboratories, computer-classes, classes with free access to internet, sport-complex, mini-stadium, playgrounds, tennis-court are at the students disposal.
The library fund of the Academy is rich in educational and scientific literature and the total amount of books is about 400 thousand, including foreign editions. The electronic catalogue of books and articles is working at the library.
The student scientific-research center of Academy is dealing with organizing and carrying out the scientific competitions, conferences, preparing and realizing the students' programs and projects.
The creative studios are working at the Academy, they regularly hold the youth creative evenings, concerts and festival "Freshmen", KVN (Club of Cheerful and Smart).
great uncertainty – сильная неуверенность
to have a goal in life – иметь цель в жизни
drug addiction – наркотическая зависимость
a sign of an intelligent and broad-minded person – признак умной и
разносторонней личности
in order – чтобы
to alarm smb – тревожить кого-либо
to plan the future career – планировать будущую карьеру
to be well-educated – быть хорошо образованным
to be a sore point – быть больным вопросом
problems with adults – проблемы со взрослыми
early pregnancy – ранняя беременность
violence and crime among youth – насилие и преступность среди молодежи
to face a drugs crisis – столкнуться с наркотическим кризисом
to loose the connections with parents – терять связь с родителями
to evoke – вызывать
to take the first step in doing smth. – cделать первый шаг в чем-либо
to prevent the selling of drugs – предотвратить продажу наркотиков
to dedicate to – посвящать чему-либо
if they are given drugs – если им предложат наркотики
number one problem among smb.- проблема номер один среди кого-либо
conscription – воинская повинность
to be like a prison – быть как в тюрьме
military service – военная служба
to be society’s future – быть будущим общества
to be “lost” – быть «потерянным»
to be full of self-criticism – быть полным самокритики
frequent changes of mood – быстрая, частая смена настроения
dissatisfaction with the appearance – неудовлетворенность внешностью
to be easily influenced by – легко попадать под влияние
to fulfill one’s duties in time – выполнять свои обязанности вовремя
to be illiterate – быть безграмотным
ignorance – невежество
to make your dreams come true – претворять мечту в жизнь
Youth is a special time for any person: he or she is no longer a child and not yet an adult. And young people have some problems special to this period of life. One of them is the problem of finding oneself. Some teenagers still remain in a condition of Great Uncertainty: they don’t have particular interests or hobbies; there are no particular aims in their lives. That’s why they are in a constant search, which sometimes makes them choose the wrong way, for example drug addiction. I think if a person has a goal in life, or there is something in the world that interests him or her very much, that person is lucky. A wide range of interest is a sign of an intelligent and broad-minded person. That’s why almost all young people try different sides of life in order to find something which attracts them most of all.
The problem that alarms me most of all is the problem of planning my future career. It is essential to have a good job. And to get a good job you have to be well-educated I can’t enter any university without good knowledge, for example of English, so it is necessary to pay for special lessons which mean heavy expenses.
After graduating from the university you have another problem. How to find a good job? Unemployment is a sore point in our country. Even qualified professionals often cannot find a good job. they have to think a lot about the possibility of finding a good job after finishing my education.
. They have so many problems. The main ones are: hard drags, diseases, such as AIDS, problems with adults, early pregnancy and of course violence and crime among youth.
Our world is facing a drugs crisis. The greater part of teenagers are using, or have used drugs. This is the main problem in the world, I think.
Because of drugs, boys and girls become angry. They loose their connections with their parents, and misunderstand them. They have a lot of communicative problems. Teenagers don’t have enough money to buy drugs, so they must steal. And using drugs evokes such a dangerous illness as AIDS. Drug addicts aware of their illness and with this their lives end.
To my mind our government should take the first step in stopping this problem and prevent the selling of drugs. Besides our government should lead different educative programs, such as “Stop AIDS”, or something like that. They should have dreams about their future career. And even if they are given drugs, they should just say “NO”.
Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk is one of the biggest administrative, industrial, scientific and cultural centres of the Far East, the capital of the Far Eastern Federal Okrug. It stretches along the right bank of the mighty Amur river and Amurskaya tributary for 45 kms (28 miles) and covers the area of almost 154 square miles (40 hectares)
In 1858 a military post to guard Russian-Chinese frontier was founded . It was named Khabarovka after the Russian explorer of the 17th century Yerofei Khabarov. In 1880 it was promoted to a city rank and in 1893 was renamed Khabarovsk. During the 20th century Khabarovsk has grown into a big modern city with the population of about 600 thousand people.
The central part of Khabarovsk is built on the summits of 3 hills named Muravyov-Amurskiy street, Lenin street, Seryshev street, which in their turn are crossed by a number of parallel streets going up and down the hills.
The main street leads to the main square of the city-Lenin Square. It was built as Nikolaevskaya Square in honour of the last Russian Tsar Nikolay II. After the Great October Socialist Revolution it was renamed the Square of Freedom and later the Square of Stalin. The monument to Lenin was unveiled on November 7th, 1925. It has been called Lenin Square since 1957. The main square of the city was opened after reconstruction in October, 1988.
There are some places of interest just along the bank of the Amur. One of them is the monument to Muravyov-Amurskiy. The monument is situated just near the famous Amur cliff, which is also considered to be the sight of Khabarovsk. Originally, a monument to the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia count Muravyov-Amurskiy was erected in 1891. In 1925 it was dismantled. On the initiative of the citizens of Khabarovsk it was re-erected in May 1992.
Khabarovsk is situated in the centre of the Far-Eastern economic region and it is the point of intersection of the most important transport ways. The Transsiberian Railway (the longest in the world – over 10.000 km) goes through the city.
Khabarovsk is often called an air gate of the Far East as many airlines of national, local and international importance cross here. Khabarovsk airport is the largest and the most important in the Russian Far East and Siberia.
Khabarovsk is a recognized centre of cultural, artistic and sports life both for the Khabarovskiy Kray and the entire region. The following theatres work in Khabarovsk: Drama Theatre, the only in the Far East Operetta Theatre (Musical Comedy Theatre), Young Spectators Theatre, Puppet Theatre and Triad Pantomime Theatre.
No less great contribution to cultural life meant the construction of the Khabarovsk Circus for 1.300 viewers. It has no architectural analogues.
The largest super– modern sports and entertainment centre "Platinum Arena" with an artificial ice rink and a field for training was built in 2003.