After-Reading Activities

3. Say whether the statements (1-12) are true or false:

1. Secondary education is compulsory from 5 to 15 in Ukraine.

2. Secondary education includes primary, secondary and higher education.

3. In June 2010 Ukrainian lawmakers adopted a law on the transition to an 11-year system and a law on compulsory preschool education for five-year-olds.

4. Schooling starts at 6 when pupils go to the first grade of primary school.

5. Secondary education proper starts in grade 5 and finishes in grade 8.

6. After middle school pupils take exams and get a certificate of basic education.

7. Higher school goes after middle school and takes grades 10-11.

8. All 11-graders take the Independent Government Tests examining 5 subjects.

9. Besides comprehensive schools, there are gymnasia, collegiums and lyceums for pupils of any age.

10. The only difference between private and public schools in Ukraine is high tuition in the former and free education in the latter.

11. In 2001 a 12-point scale which substituted the traditional four point scale was introduced in the Ukrainian system of secondary education.

12. Due to the educational reforms carried out Ukrainian schools are well-provided and face no difficulties.

4. Do the matching work. Match A and B:

A B

1. school a. AmE a school or class for children aged five; BrE a school for children aged two to five

2. gymnasium b. a school for students intermediate between elementary school and college; usually grades 7 to 11/12

3. lyceum c. a humanities orientated secondary school that prepares students for higher education

4. collegium d. a place where children are taught

5. kindergarten e. a secondary school offering academic/vocational subjects to students in grades 10-12, sometimes also grade 9

6. high school f. an ancient form of Ukrainian secondary school

7. boarding school g. a type of high school students attend in the evening

8. evening school h. a schoolwhere pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers or administrators

5. Answer the questions to Text A.

1. What stages of education are there in Ukraine? Which of them are compulsory?

2. Why do many people consider preschool education to be an important stage in preparing a child for secondary education?

3. Was the implementation of a 12-year school system and a 12-point scale an important achievement in Ukrainian educational system? What is your attitude to the law on the return to the 11-year education?

4. What are the characteristic features of secondary school in Ukraine?

5. What types of secondary schools may be distinguished in Ukraine? Which of them do you consider the best? Why?

6. The Government Tests have simplified and made easier the process of entering a higher educational establishment, haven’t they?

7. What reconstructions in the Ukrainian educational sphere are necessary to provide high level of education and develop pupils gifts and talents?

6. Comment on the underlined quotations in the text.

7. Study the Topical Vocabulary on schooling in Ukraine and complete the sentences given below using the phrases from the box.