Unit 14 Mainly revision

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British Public Schools

　　All over the world, the mention of English education suggests a picture of the public schools, and it suggests in particular the names tike Eton. Actually Eton is a public school. And the best known of the public schools are not really public at all, but independent and private secondary schools taking boys from the age of thirteen to eighteen years. The public schools in reality form a very small part of the whole system of secondary education; only about one out of forty English boys goes to a public school, and one out of 1,500 goes to Eton. However, it is still true that if an English parent has enough money to pay the fees to send his children to an independent school he will most probably do so.
The private secondary schools, or public schools, are generally controlled by the governing bodies, who are appointed as trustees to keep alive the foundations originally begun by charitable institutions or by rich people. They do not make any financial profits, but only to balance their budgets.
　　It is difficult to make a precise definition of the term “public schools”. But it is safe to say that there are altogether about a hundred schools which would universally be regarded as “public schools”. Within the group there are about thirty which can be regarded as “leading public schools”. Most public schools, particularly the most eminent ones, are called by the name of the town or village in which they are situated. The four most famous of all are Eton College, Harrow School, Winchester College and Rugby School.
　　To send a boy to a leading public school costs about ￡ 900 to ￡1,000 a term, though some of the less famous schools may cost as little as ￡ 600. When a boy has been provisionally accepted, he must, when the time comes, present himself as a candidate for the Common Examination for Entrance to Public Schools. Some public schools accept only boys who have done very well in this examination, but some others deliberately prefer to have a mixture of clever and not-so-clever boys.
　　Every public school has many rules and customs peculiar to itself — uniforms, special clothes, ties, hats, rituals and traditions. But the essential characteristics are more or less the same in them. A typical public school has about 500 boys. There may be some buildings which are three or four hundred years old. There are probably modern and well-equipped scientific laboratories.
　　Though teaching is arranged centrally for the school as a whole, the boys live in separate “houses”. Usually a boy enters a house, and remains in the same house for the whole of his time as a pupil. A typical house has about fifty boys, and they are all under the special care of the housemaster and his wife. The house itself is a world in miniature. “Fagging” is a well known public school institution. Not long ago the youngest boys had to perform personal services for the oldest ones, doing such jobs as cleaning their shoes and running errands for them. Now it is much diminished.
　　Much attention is paid to sports. And boys are often obliged to 　play football or cricket, or to row on a nearby river or to go out running or to play some other games, on most days of every week. But now there is also much encouragement for other forms of non-academic activities. Boys form their own societies for the pursuit of many and varied interests and they learn a great deal from each other.
　　Religion plays an important part in the life of most public schools. In nearly every one there is a chapel which dominates the school buildings and is big enough to hold all the boys and masters. Until fifty years ago, most headmasters were clergymen; this is now no longer so. But the headmasters are still generally expected to be specially interested in the religion in the school, and occasionally to preach sermons in the chapel on Sundays.
　　There may be one master for every ten boys, and the classes are small and flexible. As the boy grows older and reaches the Sixth Form he will be given great scope and encouragement to develop intellectually in his own way. Public schools do not claim to be more efficient at giving instructions than the grammar schools, but they do say that they try to create conditions in which the mind can develop in broadth as welt as depth, and not only the mind but the whole personality as well.
　　Lessons can be planned so as to leave much time for sports and other outside activities. More important, the atmosphere of the house and school breeds a combination of loyalty and competitiveness. To the individual boy, his progress through his house is like his future progress through life in the world outside. First he learns to take a humble part, respectful towards his superiors; and in the end, as a prefect, he learns responsibilities and the art of leadership.
　　Through leaving home at an early age, the boys learn to suppress their emotions — and sometimes it may seem that they learn to have no emotions at all. Certainly one quality they learn is an ability not to take themselves too seriously. The boys from public schools seem on the whole more sophisticated, mature and self-assured than others.
　　Why are the public schools so successful, both in having so many applicants for their limited places, and in seeing so many of their former pupils becoming the leading figures in the nation's life? The answer is: To be successful in life, you must fit readily with those who are already at the top. The public schools help you to be that kind of persons. Also, the best of them are very successful academically. This is why so many fathers want so much to send their sons to the famous schools.

British Universities: Cambridge and Oxford

　　There are more than forty universities in Britain. They are all private institutions. Each has its own governing councils, including some local businessmen and local politicians as well as a few academics. Students have to pay fees and living costs, but every student may receive from the local authority of the place where he lives a personal grant which is enough to pay for his full costs, including lodging and food.
　　Each university has its own syllabuses, and there are some quite important differences between one and another. In general the Bachelor's degree is given to the students who pass 　examinations at the end of three or four years of study. 　　　Bachelors' degrees are at two levels, Honours and Pass. In some cases the Honours degree is given for intensive study and examination in one, two or three related subjects white the Pass degree may be somewhat broader.
　　The first post-graduate degree is normally that of Master, conferred for a thesis based on at least one year's full-time work; the time actually taken is usually more than the year. Oxford and Cambridge are peculiar in that they give the Master of Arts degree automatically to any Bachelor who pays the necessary fees at any time after the seventh year from his admission to the university.
　　Oxford and Cambridge resemble each other quite closely. They have a special preeminence, but they two no longer belong to the upper and upper-middle classes as the public schools do. They are both based on colleges. These colleges are parallel and equal institutions, and none of them is connected with any particular field of study. In order to become a member of the university, a student must first be accepted as a member of a college.
　　Each college is governed by its Fellows. And most of them were founded before 1600, and the oldest three before 1300. The biggest and most magnificent is Christ Church. Its members, with wonderful arrogance, habitually call it "The House". It has educated many cabinet ministers. Colleges choose their new students mainly on academic merit, but some also admit a few men who are good at sports, or the sons of eminent citizens or of millionaires.
　　It is easy to see the advantages of an education at Oxford. The surroundings of the ancient buildings are infinitely pleasing. The teaching varies between good and bad, but the whole effect is highly stimulating. The libraries and bookshops are probably unequalled anywhere.
　　Most of a man's contacts are with the people in his own college, though the average student has many friends in other colleges too. But an Oxford college is a community, and its students feel very conscious of belonging to it. The intercollege rowing races in the summer provide Oxford with a great and colorful social occasion.
　　Each Fellow in a college is a tutor in his own subject to the undergraduates who are studying it. Each student goes to his tutor's room for an hour every week to sit in an armchair and read out an essay which he and the tutor then discuss. The system of teaching here encouraged independent thoughts and judgements.
　　Oxford is more tolerant than Cambridge; and except Churchill, every Prime Minister from 1945 to 1974 was an Oxford graduate. But Cambridge is more developed than Oxford in scientific studies. The rivalry between the two universities at sports is a part of the national life.
　　England had no other universities, apart from Oxford and Cambridge, until the nineteenth century. During the 19th century, institutions of higher education were founded in most of the biggest industrial towns. For a long time they could not give degrees themselves. But one by one, they grew bigger and became independent universities. Since the 1960s, new forms of higher education were established, among which the Open University is the most interesting innovation. It gives courses through one of the BBC’s television channels and by radio, and it developed prosperously all over the country.

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