Introduction

The education system of Great Britain is famous for its unique traditions. Having such well known education establishments as Oxford, Cambridge, and having rather high educational standards, especially in the sphere of higher education, taking the 2 place in Europe, education system of the United Kingdom however, has its own drawbacks and negative tendencies. One of the best ways to analyze something is to compare it with the other thing, as drawbacks and benefits can be better seen against the background of the fundamentally-different education system. In this terms Russian education system is the best choice.

 

Derived from the educational system of the former USSR, which was considered to be one of the best in the world, now it is being changed in order to correspond to the demands of the modern society. Being quite opposite in their nature, these two systems have too many different things to compare, that is why we will stop only on some of them, which are considered to be the most interesting. The first thing to be compared is the presence of the private schools, the payment for education and the role private schools play in the further obtaining of the education. The next thing is the relationships between the teacher and the pupils, their level of mutual understanding. The influence of the pupil’s background on the quality of the obtaining education will be the last thing to be compared.

Private schools

One of the most significant achievements of the former USSR was its ability to provide absolutely free education for all people in this giant country. Russia, as the main successor of that country, has inherited this achievement, providing free education too

The citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to free primary education, basic and secondary general education, and to vocational education; and on a competitive basis, to free non-university and university level higher educational and to postgraduate education in State and municipal educational establishments. (State policy in regard to education n.d., para 9)

The percentage of the private schools and universities is extremely low in Russian educational system and they are not of the great significance. Their few number is explained by the fact, that the fashion to the private education establishments has come to Russia not so long ago. The graduates from these schools do not have other advantages of the graduates from the public schools and additionally the study is to be paid for. Better conditions and, as a result, better level of obtaining knowledge, are still not enough to attract parents.

In Great Britain things are totally opposite. The higher education in the UK is fee-paid for foreigners and its citizens. In the sphere of secondary education the private and public schools exist. However, as against Russia, the graduate from the private school has the great advantage of the graduate from public – “the most prestigious 100 schools secure 30% of all Oxbridge places. And 84 of them are private schools” (Dorling 2014, para. 2). Having analysed the facts, we observe the great difference in the importance of the private schools for the education system in Russia and Great Britain.

Relations between the teacher and the pupil

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The other point under the consideration is the relationships between the teacher and his pupils. There is a tendency in the world for the growing intention in their relations and Great Britain is not an exception. The humanistic society is too focused on the children rights, forgetting about their duties. As a result children grow with the realization of their permissiveness The teacher is no more authority and it is very difficult to find some leverage over them.

Teachers are very constrained in the remedies as private schools are interested in pupils. In Russia however, the teacher had always had authority with children and their family. The situation remains the same in the whole, however there is a tendency for its changing. The pupils obtain more and more independence and assurance in their privileged state while the teacher loses his authority. The situation becomes more like in Great Britain, children do not appreciate the relations with the teacher, just putting their interests in the head.

Social background

The last point to be compared is the influence of the children background on their ability to get further education. “Variations in school performance in the UK are also heavily determined by the social backgrounds of pupils” (Green, Mason