5. Summarize the text in 3 paragraphs using the given clichés. Education in Russia

Education in Russia is provided mainly by the state and is regulated by the federal Ministry of Education. Before 1990 the course of school training in Soviet Union was 10-years, but at the end of 1990 the 11-year course has been officially entered. Education in state-owned secondary schools is free; first tertiary (university level) education is free with reservations: a substantial share of students is enrolled for full pay.

Pre-school education

Kindergartens, unlike schools, are regulated by regional and local authorities. Local authorities can legally charge the parents not more than 20% of cost. Twins, children of college students, refugees, Chernobyl veterans and other protected social groups are entitled to free service.

The Soviet system provided for nearly universal primary (nursery, age 1 to 3) and kindergarten (age 3 to 7) service in urban areas. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the number decreased to 46,000; kindergarten buildings were sold as real estate, irreversibly rebuilt and converted for office use.

Secondary school

Eleven-year secondary education in Russian is compulsory since September 1, 2007. Until 2007, it was limited to nine years with grades 10-11 optional. A student of 15 to 18 years of age may drop out of school with aproval of his/her parent and local authorities, and without their consent upon reaching age of 18.

The eleven-year school term is split into elementary (grades 1-4), middle (grades 5-9) and senior (grades 10-11) classes. Absolute majority of children attend full program schools providing eleven-year education; schools limited to elementary or elementary and middle classes typically exist in rural areas. In areas where school capacity is insufficient to teach all students on a normal, morning to afternoon, schedule, authorities resort to double shift schools were two streams of students (morning shift and evening shift) share the same facility.

Children are accepted to first grade at the age of 6 or 7. The switch from ten to eleven-year term was motivated by continuously increasing load in middle and senior grades. In 1960s, it resulted in a "conversion" of the fourth grade from elementary to middle school. Decrease in elementary schooling led to greater disparity between children entering middle school; to compensate for the "missing" fourth grade, elementary schooling was extended with a "zero grade" for six-year-olds.

Children of elementary classes are normally separated from other classes within their own floor of a school building. They are taught, ideally, by a single teacher through all four elementary grades (except for physical training and, if available, foreign languages); 98.5% of elementary school teachers are women.

The school year extends from September 1 to end of May and is divided into four terms. Study program in schools is fixed; unlike in some Western countries, schoolchildren or their parents have no choice of study subjects. Students are graded on a 5-step scale, ranging in practice from 2 ("unacceptable") to 5 ("excellent"); 1 is a rarely used sign of extreme failure.

Vocational training option

Upon completion of a nine-year program the student has a choice of either completing the remaining two years at normal school, or of a transfer to a specialized professional training school. Historically these were divided into low-prestige PTU's and better-regarded technicums and medical (nurse level) schools; in 2000s, many such institutions have been renamed to colleges. They provide students with a working skill qualification and a high school certificate equivalent to 11-year education in a normal school; the program, due to its work training component, extends to 3 years. All certificates of secondary education (Russian: аттестат зрелости), regardless of issuing institution, conform to the same state standard and are considered, at least by law, to be fully equivalent.

Unified state examinations

Traditionally, the universities and institutes conducted their own admissions tests. In 2003 the Ministry of Education launched the Unified state examination (USE) program. The set of standardized tests for high school graduates, issued uniformly throughout the country and rated independent of the student's schoolmasters was supposed to replace entrance exams to state universities.

Awarding USE grades involves two stages. In this system, a "primary grade" is the sum of points for completed tasks, with each of the tasks having a maximum number of points allocated to it. The maximum total primary grade varies by subject, so that one might obtain, for instance, a primary grade of 23 out of 37 in mathematics and a primary grade of 43 out of 80 in French. The primary grades are then converted into final or "test grades" by means of a sophisticated statistical calculation, which takes into account the distribution of primary grades among the examinees.

Tertiary (university level) education

Traditional model

Unlike the United States or Bologna process model, there was no division into undergraduate (BSc/BA) and graduate (MSc/MA) levels; tertiary education always fitted into a single stage resulting in specialist diploma. It took five to six years to complete; specialist diplomas of selected high-ranking institutions were perceived equal to Western MSc/MA qualification. A specialist graduate needed no further academic qualification to pursue a real–world career, with the exception of some (but not all) branches of medical professions that required a post-graduate residency stage. Military college education lasted four years and was ranked as equivalent to specialist diploma.

Move towards Bologna Process

Russia is in the process of migrating from its traditional tertiary education model, incompatible with existing Western academic degrees, to a modernized degree structure in line with Bologna Process model. (Russia co-signed the Bologna Declaration in 2003.) In October 2007 Russia enacted a law that replaces the traditional five-year model of education with a two-tiered approach: a four-year bachelor (Russian: бакалавр) degree followed by a two-year master's (Russian: магистр) degree.

The move has been criticized for its merely formal approach: instead of reshaping their curriculum, universities would simply insert a BSc/BA accreditation in the middle of their standard five or six-year programs. The job market is generally unaware of the change and critics predict that a stand-alone BSc/BA diplomas will not be recognized as "real" university education.

POINT OF GRAMMAR

The Passive

The passive: Present Simple and Past Simple

FORM

noun/pronoun + to be + past participle

Someone washes the car every week.

The car is washed every week.

They make these televisions in Japan.

These televisions are made in Japan.

Someone painted the house last week.

The house was painted last week.

They taught the children to be polite.

The children were taught to be polite.

USE

• The passive is used to describe actions:

a) when we don't know who does, or did the action:

My briefcase was stolen last night.

(I don't know who stole it).

b) when it is not important to know who does, or

did the action:

The cars are taken to Europe every week.

(It doesn't matter who takes them).

These televisions are made in Japan.

(It doesn't matter who makes them).