sweden vs england

Comparing the system of social service between Sweden and England, I can see a difference. Sweden has more statly care less private than england. Sweden has got a pride in adopting socialism and in having a well developed social security -system. I am happy I come from a country where the healthcare is affordable and it is easy to get help when you need it. I think the social service in England is more privatised and asks more of the people than in Sweden. In Sweden, school is always free. Even university, for example becoming a doctor, is free of cost. Actually, you can get money from the state every month that you do not have to give back. And children studying in some privateschools does not have to pay since the state supports also the private-schools. In England, on the other hand, you have to pay for the university and most private-schools.But there are the possibility to go to a statly school whereas it is possible in Sweden to go to a private school.

Zaya's schooling

There are many things we could mention about the social services, it covers many aspects of our lives. Whether it is in a positive way or a negative way it depends a lot on the quality of the care and attention they provide. Sometimes it can be the other way around. Because some people are just not happy with what they have, they tend to dwell more on what is missing than what is provided for them. It is true that if the government wants to play the role of a carer, it is necessary for them to do the job properly. But since we are not likely to get anything more out of them, it is sometimes good to see the bright side of this dark world. In line with this thought I would like to bring out one of the things that impressed me when I came to England, which is the educational system. Not only because of the quality of teaching but because of how it is presented. To make this more clear I should explain the system we have in my country in Mongolia. Even though communism has been abolished for a great deal of time certainly it still has an influence, especially when it comes to education. My earliest memories about the school were that the classrooms had plain white or blue walls and the only posters on them described grammar. We did not have any play areas either. So the whole focus was on studying and memorising numerous books and poems. How different this is to the way of learning taught here in the UK. For example recently I visited a school in Great Dunmow where I saw how the children were learning about other counries of the world by creating a display of popular things found in those countries. One display was about India and they displayed a sari, curry and various spices used in Indain cooking. This looked like it would be fun to do. I remember when I was in school in Mongolia learning about India I had to memorise a number of pages with very few pictures. If I did not remember the information the next day, I was given a bad mark and punished. It would have been so much easier to recall the material if we had learned it the same way as those children in Great Dunmow rather than remembering the punishment I recieved. There are lot to add but it is time for me to go to sleep.

Robin's doctor

I'm afraid I don't have any experience with the British social security system, which is a good thing I guess. I can, however, tell you about my doctors visits in the Netherlands. My doctor tends to be a little hasty. She has a very strict schedule and I always feel like I am annoying her with my visit. If I'm lucky I get enough time to explain my complaints. After I did so, she'll probably say: "Well, there's really not much I can do about it. If it's still not over in a week you can come back. Bye. Next" OK, thanks doctor..

Social service in UK vs. Spain (by Helena)

Not always is easy to compare the social services in different countries, because it is neccesary to understand the political, economical and even cultural characteristics of each country. Luckily, I can not compare all the social services that both countries offer,because I haven´t need to turn to them. But I can compare one of them, the National Health Service. While in other aspects of life UK is far ahead of Spain, it was a big surprise for me to discover that the UK has one of the worst Public Healths Service in Europe. Even I have a private health insuranse in this country, I only have used the public one. My first surprise was when I went to register with my local GP and I saw advertisements that said that if you suffer from a cold or you have temperature only ask for one appointment after going to see the pharmaceutical and stay several days really bad.I read as well, "one problem, one appointment",because each doctor has between 5 and 10 minutes to meet each patient. My experience with my GP is positive, but because the government is reducing the budget in health service, only GPs send you to see a specialist if they think that you are really bad. A blood or urine test is something that is only done in extremes cases. Now, that i´m pregnant, i can compare the big difference between both countries. Here, neither a gynecologist nor a normal consultant have seen me at the moment. Only I had a few appointments with a midwife, and two scans during all the pregnancy.I don´t know if you see on TV "one born every minute", but you can see how the hospitals works in the country. You give birth in a hospital room with one midwife and a nurse and only if you need a cesarean they send you to a operating room with a gynecologist. But not only you give birth in a dodgy hospital room but they send you home the same day. I couldn´t imagine having to go though this situation, for this reason I have decided return to Spain to have my second child there.