Education systems - Slovakia, U.S.A. and Great Britain

EDUCATION

Slovakia ranks among countries with well-developed school educational system. In general, education is under the control of state, church or private bodies. State and religious schools are free of charge, they are financed by the state, while private schools charge high tuition fees.
Pre-school education includes crèches, nursery schools and kindergartens. They are attended by the children at the age 2 to 6. Compulsory education is for children between the ages 6 to 16.
There is no selection of children entering primary schools. Primary education lasts 8 (9) years and is comprehensive, providing basic knowledge for the pupils. It includes subjects like : languages, maths, physics, history, geography, biology, music, physical education, arts and crafts, and so on.
The system of secondary education consists of three types of schools. There are 3-years vocation schools, secondary technical schools with or without school leaving examination and grammar schools where students are prepared for their next undergraduate study at universities and colleges.
Nowadays, several types of private grammar schools appeared which are usually specialized on languages, computers or economy.
After finishing a secondary school one can continue studying at any of technical, economic, medicine, natural science or other colleges. It is possible to choose Bachelor or Diploma study. The last one usually ends with the state examinations and the pleading of the thesis.
The last step in our educational system is the postgraduate study, where a student is improving his ability for independent scientific work under the guide of the experienced specialist.