2006年VOA标准英语-Burundi Struggles To Implement Free Primar

By Cathy Majtenyi
Burundi
16 May 2006

The tiny African Great Lakes nation of Burundi is the latest on the continent to institute free primary school education, which began last September following more than a dozen years of civil war.  The program is widely seen to be a blessing¹, but its implementation² is fraught³ with challenges.  Cathy Majtenyi was in Burundi recently and files this report for VOA.

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Grade 5 teacher Genevieve Banyanse and students at Nyakabiga Primary School in Burundi’s capital Bujumbura, where she teaches mathematics and environment   
  

Math and environment teacher Genevieve Banyanse has 155 students in her Grade 5 class, 75 who come to school in the morning and 80 in the afternoon, almost double the number from the previous year.

Wringing⁴ her hands and grimacing⁵, the teacher describes the frustration⁶ of seeing four children sitting at a desk meant for two at Nyakabiga Primary School in the capital, Bujumbura, where she teaches.

Banyanse shudders⁷ to think of how the lack of teachers and resources affect the students.

Banyanse says four students share one textbook.  She says the strongest usually gets the book, which means that the other children are unable to study at night.

The fifth-grade teacher figures that only about half the students understand the lessons because of the sheer size of the class, misbehavior by some students and the fact that many children in poverty-stricken Burundi come to school on an empty stomach, making them sleepy and unable to concentrate.

Grade 5 teacher Genevieve Banyanse at home with two of her six children. She teaches mathematics and environment at nearby Nyakabiga Primary School in Burundi’s capital Bujumbura  
  
Burundi is the latest African country to offer free primary school education, a policy newly-elected President Pierre Nkurunziza announced in his inaugural⁸ speech last August.

A dozen years of civil war has gutted⁹ the education system.  About 41 percent of adults are illiterate¹⁰, and only a little more than 50 percent of all primary school-aged children are in school.  Many schools do not have electricity, running water, washrooms or other basic facilities.

Poverty is rampant¹¹, with almost 60 percent of Burundi's seven million people living on less than $1 a day.

While Banyanse and other teachers, parents and students laud¹² the new policy, they also have to contend with swollen¹³ classes that, in most cases, do not receive extra teachers, books, desks, and other resources to match the class size.  Banyanse says teachers' salaries are also very low, ranging from $15 to $72 a month.

Saidi Kibeya is Burundi's education minister.  He tells VOA that since primary school fees were abolished last September, enrollment¹⁴ shot up 30 percent, from one million to 1,300,000 students.

He says his government has put together an emergency plan to cope with the increase that includes recruiting 5000 teachers to add to the existing 21,000; increasing the education budget by more than $1.5 million, and purchasing thousands of benches and blackboards.

Kibeya says that, despite the problems, free primary education represents a turning point for the country.

He says a good number of Burundians are poor, and the decision to abolish primary school fees will allow those poor parents to send their children to school.

The government's emergency plan mostly targets Grade 1, the grade with the largest increase in students.  Kibeya says international donors¹⁵ such as Britain, Japan, and other governments in conjunction with the U.N. Children's Agency are building extra classrooms, training teachers, constructing water and sanitation¹⁶ facilities, and other assistance for students.

But a lack of resources is not the only challenge dogging Burundi's primary education system.  Twelve years of a civil war that killed 300,000 people has left an indelible mark on the country's children.

The deputy executive director of the U.N. Children's Agency, Rima Salah, explains.

"Children did not see, they do not know school, they do not know what a school is because of the long years of war," she says. "You need more [of a] psycho-social [approach].  It is no more education like before, to read and write.  You need to help children to get over the trauma¹⁷ of war, and that is why in Burundi it is very important to have psycho-social educational counseling.  Those children are traumatized.  They were born in war and they saw war all of their life."

Salah says the U.N. children's agency supports organizations that provide this counseling so that children are better able to learn and the country can move forward.  She applauds the decision to abolish primary school fees, saying that education is vital to the success of Burundi's postwar reconstruction¹⁸ and development.

Also being integrated within the primary school system are more than one million former child soldiers.  Salah says these children need special attention

"They will never recuperate¹⁹ if you do not give them personal attention," Salah says. "A social worker has to be with them all the time to help them overcome years and years of abduction and years and years of being in the army as children.  They have lost their childhood - how do we bring them back their childhood?"

Salah is urging the Burundi government and donors to ensure that children's psycho-social, and not just physical, needs are being met in the primary school system.

1 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

2 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

3 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

4 wringing   

淋湿的，湿透的

参考例句：

• He was wringing wet after working in the field in the hot sun. 烈日下在田里干活使他汗流满面。
• He is wringing out the water from his swimming trunks. 他正在把游泳裤中的水绞出来。

5 grimacing   

v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• But then Boozer drove past Gasol for a rattling, grimacing slam dunk. 可布泽尔单吃家嫂，以一记强有力的扣篮将比分超出。 来自互联网
• The martyrdom of Archbishop Cranmer, said the don at last, grimacing with embarrassment. 最后那位老师尴尬地做个鬼脸，说，这是大主教克莱默的殉道士。 来自互联网

6 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

7 shudders   

n.颤动，打颤，战栗( shudder的名词复数 )v.战栗( shudder的第三人称单数 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• It gives me the shudders. （（口语））它使我战栗。 来自辞典例句
• The ghastly sight gave him the shudders. 那恐怖的景象使他感到恐惧。 来自辞典例句

8 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

9 gutted   

adj.容易消化的v.毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的过去式和过去分词 )；取出…的内脏

参考例句：

• Disappointed? I was gutted! 失望？我是伤心透了！
• The invaders gutted the historic building. 侵略者们将那幢历史上有名的建筑洗劫一空。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

11 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

12 laud   

n.颂歌；v.赞美

参考例句：

• Kathy was very pleased to have graduated cum laud in her class.凯西在班上以优等成绩毕业，她为此而非常高兴。
• We laud him a warmhearted man.我们称赞他是个热心人。

13 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

14 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

15 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

17 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

18 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

19 recuperate   

v.恢复

参考例句：

• Stay in the hospital for a few more days to recuperate.再住院几天，好好地恢复。
• He went to the country to recuperate.他去乡下养病去了。