Text 3 Portrait of the student as a young swot

Niki Hindmarsh, a final-year journalism student, gets up at 4,30 a. m. to do a four-hour shift at a local radio station, reading the traffic and the weather report. She’s back at Liverpool John Moores University for a 10 a. m. lec­ture, then spends the rest of the day between lectures and the libraiy. She is also entertainment coordinator in the student union and runs the student radio station. When her mates go to the pub in the evening, she’s tucked up in bed.

Niki, 21, has made a profession out of being a student. She worries about money and is keenly aware of the competition she’ll have to fight off to get a foothold in her chosen career. That’s why she works so hard. But, Niki insists, hers is definitely not a baked-bean-diet kind of existence. She prefers lunching out with her girlfriends. “People see university as an easy thing to do, like we’re all lazy,” says Niki. “But it’s a lot harder than people realise. You really have to work hard, think about the future and juggle trying to earn some money. Then you have to live with a label that says you’re not really human.”

According to the most comprehensive re­search on the life of students to date — conducted by the polling company Mori for the student housing group Unite and published today — Niki’s generation is more career orientated, hard working and serious than any of its predecessors. “A degree is now seen as a necessity on every CV. It’s expected by employers and, because it’s so expensive, students have to get value for money. They are going there to work,” says Tabitha Birchall, head of communications at Unite, who has managed the annual survey for the past five years. (The Guardian, By Polly Curtis)

Text 4 University today

Worriers crippled with debt or binge-drinking hedonists — who exactly are the people attending university today? A new survey paints a fascinat­ing picture.

In this year’s survey, which involved in-depth interviews with 1,007 stu­dents, 70 % said they had applied to university to get a good qualification. Four years ago, that figure was 53 %. Some 57 % of replies cited the need to improve their job chances, compared with 52 % four years ago. Stu­dents are putting their noses to the grindstone. The survey finds that many are too focused on their work to worry about their love life. A third said they were actively choosing to avoid relationships. Seven out of 10 students said they cared very much about health and fitness. But the student body has not collectively gone on the wagon and grown halos. Students’ average monthly booze bill is £73, according to the survey, compared with the £122 they spend on food. A third of them drink more than the 21 units rec­ommended as a maximum weekly limit. “Despite a high level of awareness of the risks of binge drinking, significant proportions buy more alcohol than the recommended levels for safe drinking,” the report says.

While more indebted than ever, students are spending more money on gadgets: 47 % have a DVD player in their room, 49 % have a mobile phone with picture-messaging and 16 % have an MP3 player.

Darren Wilson, 21, a third-year economics student at Leeds University, jokes that there are more DVD players in his house than people. Darren grew up next door to Niki in Newcastle. Now their lives are very different. By the time he gets up in the morning, she has finished her radio shift and is at her first lec­ture. “The likelihood of my making it to an early lecture is proportional to the hangover,” he admits. Spoken like a true student, but Darren is not quite as nonchalant as he pretends to be. “I quite like the challenge of university. Not that I want to sound like a geek, but this last year and the end of the second year, it’s been stretching ” And Darren is far from lazy, four nights a week he takes part in sport and once a week he goes to a Spanish class. All on top of preparing for his finals. (The Guardian, By Polly Curtis)

Text 5

The belief that the future of society depends on the quantity and quality of its educated citizens is widely held. It explains why a great many Russians are still willing to get good education. Higher education institutions in Russia are diverse, ranging in size, mission and history. Some of universities have been founded by state. Several dozens of universities determine their admission policy and requirements. In most cases, entry requirements are specified as grade point average. Nevertheless, the best universities are also the most difficult to get into.

After finishing the 11-th form high-school students take Unified National (State) Exams. Each exam is conducted by independent examining boards. If a student gets high scores, such a result is considered to be good and he/she has an opportunity to enter university. They can choose from a wide range of universities according to their will‘ The typical academic programme for university students is composed of varying number of courses or subjects within a field of specialization. Courses are a combination of lectures, seminars and laboratory work. Many courses are available for disabled people.

Undergraduate degrees normally take four years to complete and they lead to a Bachelor's degree. Those who want to receive Master's degree, continue their studies and research work for another two years. Students may go on postgraduate (graduate) education. For this they carry out independent research, prepare and defend a dissertation. The Ph.D (candidate's degree) is a degree received as a result of completion of dissertation.

The system of secondary and higher education in Russia is going through a transitional period. The main objectives of the reform are: to decentralize the higher education system, to develop a new financial mechanism, to give more academic freedoms to faculties and students. Although the standards of higher education in Russia are considered to be one of the best, there are many problems we are facing in our higher education. For instance, universities complain that the equipment which is used at universities is not modern enough, tuition fees are growing and many talented young people cannot receive higher education. All these problems are widely discussed in Russian society.

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