新西兰英语 63 High School Issues

　　The PPTA is holding their annual conference this week. PPTA means Post-Primary Teachers’ Association and it is the union for high school teachers. Discussion today was about the Labour government’s plan, called ‘Schools Plus’, for keeping all young people in school or in some form of training at school until they reach the age of 18. Helen Clark gave a speech to the conference and said there would be extra teachers and extra money so that this policy will work.
At the moment, school is compulsory¹ from age 6 to 16. About 30,000 students, that is about 25% of all students, leave school before they are 17. For Maori students, the percentage is 42%. 10,000 of those early leavers do not have a job and are not in any kind of education or training.
Helen Clark said this policy would cost $170 million and already the government has announced $40 million to make a start. There will be apprentice² jobs for young people to learn trades such as car mechanic, plumber³, builder or electrician. Students will do this training while at school or they will spend some time both working at a job and studying at school. This way, the school will have control over students’ attendance, behaviour and progress. However, this policy may not help students who hate school.
The National Party also has a policy for young people who leave school early and do not have a job. It is called ‘Youth Guarantee’ and we will learn more about this after October 12th when the National Party tells us the details of their policies.

1 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

2 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

3 plumber   

n.(装修水管的)管子工

参考例句：

• Have you asked the plumber to come and look at the leaking pipe?你叫管道工来检查漏水的管子了吗？
• The plumber screwed up the tap by means of a spanner.管子工用板手把龙头旋紧。