8. Read the text and answers the following questions! a. What is the difference between state and public schools? b. How do children enter the public schools? c. Why are some…
8. Read the text and answers the following questions! a. What is the difference between state and public schools? b. How do children enter the public schools? c. Why are some public schools well-known throughout the country? PUBLIC SCHOOLS Some parents prefer to pay for their children to be educated at independent schools. This private sector includes the so-called public schools, some of which are known all over the world. The oldest of public schools were founded to give free education to clever boys, whose parents could not afford to educate them privately. They were under "public" control and management. Today these schools are not public in the usual sense of the word. They de-pend almost entirely on the fees paid by their pupil's parents and are the most expensive of the independent schools in Britain. They are mostly boarding schools, where the pupils live as well as study though many of these schools also take some day pupils. Most of public schools have a few places for pupils, whose fees are paid by a local education authority, but normally entrance is by examination and state schools do not prepare children for this. So the parents who wish to send their children to a public school often send them first to a pre-preparatory school (for children aged 5 to 7 or 8), and to a preparatory (prep) school (aged 7 or 8 to 13). In order to gain entrance to public school children leaving preparatory school have to pass an examination known as Common Entrance. There are about 2,400 independent schools in Great Britain educating 600,000 pupils of all ages. Many of Britain's public schools are long established and have gained a reputation fir their high academic standards; as well as the exclusiveness and snobbery. The boy's schools include such well-known schools as Eton (College), Harrow (School), Westminster (School) and Westminster (College). Among leading girl's public schools are Roedean School and Cheltenham Ladie's College.
a. The difference between state and public schools is that state schools are funded and managed by the government and provide free education, while public schools in the context of the text are independent and private schools that charge high fees, relying mostly on the tuition paid by parents. Public schools in this sense do not operate under public control and are considered part of the private sector.
b. Children enter public schools primarily through an examination known as the Common Entrance exam, which they must pass after attending preparatory schools. Most public schools do not accept children directly from state schools, as those schools do not prepare students for the entrance examinations.
c. Some public schools are well-known throughout the country due to their long establishment and history, which has allowed them to gain a reputation for high academic standards as well as their exclusivity and social prestige. Notable examples include Eton, Harrow, and Westminster.
