Education in the United States of America is compulsory for children from the age of 6 till 16 (or 18). It involves 12 years of schooling. A school year starts at the end of August or at the beginning of September and ends in late June or early July. The whole school year is divided into three terms/trimesters or four quarters. American students have winter, spring and summer holidays which last 2 or 3 weeks and 6 or 8 weeks, respectively. The length of the school year varies among the states as well as the day length. Students go to school 5 days a week. The American education system consists of 3 basic components: elementary, secondary and higher education. There is also such a notion as preschool education. At the age of 4 or 5 children just get acquainted with the formal education in a nursery school. The preschool education programme aims to prepare children for elementary school through playing and help them to acquire the experience of association. It lasts for one year. Then they go to the first grade.
Elementary education starts when pupils are 6 years old. The programme of studies in the elementary school includes the following subjects: English, Arithmetic, Geography, History of the USA, Natural sciences, Physical Training, Singing, Drawing, wood or metal work. The education is mostly concentrated on the basic skills (speaking, reading, writing and arithmetic). Sometimes children also learn some foreign languages, general history and such new subjects as drug and sex education. The main goal of elementary education is the general intellectual, social and physical development of a pupil from 5 to 12 or 15 years old.
Secondary education begins when children move on to high or secondary school in the ninth grade, where they continue their studies until the twelfth grade. The secondary school curriculum is built around specific subjects rather than general skills. Although there is always a number of basic subjects in the curriculum: English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Physical Education, the students have an opportunity to learn some elective subjects, which are not necessary for everybody. After the first two years of education they can select subjects according to their professional interests. The electives are to be connected with the students' future work or further education at university or college. Every high school has a special teacher — a guidance counselor who helps the students to choose these elective subjects. Moreover, he helps them with some social problems, too. The elective courses are different in various schools.
Members of each grade in high school have special names: students in the ninth grade are called freshmen, tenth graders are called sophomores, eleventh graders are juniors and as for twelfth graders, they are seniors.
After graduating from high schools the majority of the Americans go on studying at higher education establishments. In universities they have to study for four years to get a bachelor's degree. In order to get a master's degree they must study two years more and, besides, be engaged in a research work.
Choose true or false:
1. American education is compulsory for children till 14.
true
false
2. After the first two years of education they have no opportunity to choose subjects according to their professional interests.
true
false
3. In universities students have to study for six years to get a bachelor's degree.
true
false
The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the head of state, the highest political official, who determines the main directions of the domestic and foreign policy of the country and represents Kazakhstan on the international arena. The President is a symbol and guarantor of the national unity and the state power, inviolability of the Constitution, as well as the rights and freedoms of an individual and citizen.
The current President is Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. He assumed office after the first President, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was born on 17 May 1953 in Alma-Ata. His father, Kemel Tokayev (1923–1986), was a World War II veteran and a well-known Kazakh writer. His mother, Turar Shabarbayeva (1931–2000), worked at the Alma-Ata Institute of Foreign Languages. Upon graduation from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1975, Tokayev joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and was posted to the Soviet Embassy in Singapore. In 1991 Kazakhstan became an independent state and Tokayev was appointed as a Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan. He later became the speaker of the Senate. On 19 March 2019, then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his resignation. According to the Constitution of Kazakhstan, in case of early termination of powers, the Speaker of the Senate becomes President until the next election. On 20 March 2019, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev officially took office as President. Then during the elections on 9 June 2019, Tokayev was elected president of Kazakhstan with 71% of the popular vote. He renamed the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan the city of Astana into Nur-Sultan after the first president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is the second president of the independent state Kazakhstan.
Президент Республики Казахстан является главой государства, его высшим должностным лицом, определяющим основные направления внутренней и внешней политики государства и представляет Казахстан на международной арене. Президент является символом и гарантом единства народа и государственной власти, незыблемости Конституции, прав и свобод человека и гражданина.
Нынешний президент-Касым-Жомарт Токаев, вступил в должность после отставки первого Президента Нурсултана Назарбаева. Касым-Жомарт Токаев родился 17 мая 1953 года в Алма-Ате. Его отец Кемель Токаев (1923-1986)-ветеран Великой Отечественной войны, известный казахский писатель. Его мать, Турар Шабарбаева (1931-2000), работала в Алма-Атинском Институте иностранных языков. После окончания (МГИМО) Московского государственного института международных отношений в 1975 году, Токаев поступил в Министерство иностранных дел СССР и был направлен в советское посольство в Сингапуре. В 1991 году Казахстан стал независимым государством и Токаев был назначен заместителем министра иностранных дел Республики Казахстан. Позже он стал спикером Сената. 19 марта 2019 года тогдашний президент Нурсултан Назарбаев объявил о своей отставке. Согласно Конституции Казахстана, в случае до прекращения полномочий спикер Сената становится президентом до следующих выборов. 20 марта 2019 года Касым-Жомарт Токаев официально вступил в должность президента. Позже уже в ходе выборов 9 июня 2019 года Токаев был избран президентом Казахстана с 71% голосов избирателей. Он переименовал столицу Республики Казахстан город Астану в Нур-Султан в честь Первого Президента Нурсултана Назарбаева. Касым-Жомарт Токаев-второй президент независимого государства Казахстан.