Education: United States vs. Ukraine
Ganna Mikheleva ENG-101
Essay #1, Final 02-16-2012
Education: United States vs. Ukraine
“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” * George Washington
There are 1.8 million people coming to the United States every year. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2006 there were 961,113 Americans of Ukrainian descent representing 0.33% of the American population. The Ukrainian population in the United States is thus the second largest outside the former Soviet Union. One of the reasons is that the education is more progressive and flexible, which makes it easier for people to attain their educational goals. In different countries and in different cultural environments, education has different forms, methods and meanings for people. Given the opportunity to attend schools in Ukraine and in the United States, I could not help but notice the differences between the two educational systems. The U.S. educational system is more liberal, comprehensive, and specialty focused when compared to the Ukrainian system.
The educational system of Ukraine is continuously changing due to the transitional period of the country from the former Soviet Union. During the Soviet period, educational organizations in Ukraine were state-supported institutions, none of which had religious affiliations. As cultural environment changes, this is no longer true for the modern Ukraine. Nowadays, all schools, from pre-school to the institutions of higher education, have Christian classes in their curricular activities. Contrary to the state-sponsored education of the Soviet era, there are both public and private educational establishments, all of which must be accredited by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine.
Primary and secondary education comprise pre-school through grade 11. The components of primary level of education are pre-school programs which are attended by two-third of all Ukrainian children. Children ages 6 months to 3 years are enrolled in
Essay #1, Final 02-16-2012
Education: United States vs. Ukraine
“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” * George Washington
There are 1.8 million people coming to the United States every year. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2006 there were 961,113 Americans of Ukrainian descent representing 0.33% of the American population. The Ukrainian population in the United States is thus the second largest outside the former Soviet Union. One of the reasons is that the education is more progressive and flexible, which makes it easier for people to attain their educational goals. In different countries and in different cultural environments, education has different forms, methods and meanings for people. Given the opportunity to attend schools in Ukraine and in the United States, I could not help but notice the differences between the two educational systems. The U.S. educational system is more liberal, comprehensive, and specialty focused when compared to the Ukrainian system.
The educational system of Ukraine is continuously changing due to the transitional period of the country from the former Soviet Union. During the Soviet period, educational organizations in Ukraine were state-supported institutions, none of which had religious affiliations. As cultural environment changes, this is no longer true for the modern Ukraine. Nowadays, all schools, from pre-school to the institutions of higher education, have Christian classes in their curricular activities. Contrary to the state-sponsored education of the Soviet era, there are both public and private educational establishments, all of which must be accredited by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine.
Primary and secondary education comprise pre-school through grade 11. The components of primary level of education are pre-school programs which are attended by two-third of all Ukrainian children. Children ages 6 months to 3 years are enrolled in