Preschool, or early education, has long been a part of children’s lives in the U.S. Now, the benefits of preschool programs have been confirmed for rural African children.
学前教育，或者说早期教育，一直是生活在美国的儿童必不可少的一部分。现在，非洲偏远地区的儿童，也开始从学前教育项目中获益。
The World Bank has given high marks to a preschool program in Mozambique. It’s run by the humanitarian organization Save the Children. The bank says it’s the first such evaluation of preschool in Africa. It studied about 2,000 households in 76 rural communities in the Gaza Province near the capital Maputo.
世界银行已经对莫桑比克的学前教育进行了高度评价。这个项目是由人道主义组织“救助儿童会”实施。世界银行表示，这是首次对非洲的学前教育进行的评估。世界银行对莫桑比克首都马普托附近的加沙省76个农村社区的大约2000个家庭进行了研究调查。
“It’s focusing on developing these young children’s motor skills, their psychosocial abilities; their early reading abilities; their early math abilities. Particularly, in Mozambique, we were focusing on children between 3 and 5 years old,” said Heather Simpson, senior director of education and child development for Save the Children.
海瑟·辛普森是“救助儿童会”教育和儿童发展部门的主任。她说：“项目重点在于开发这些年幼儿童的运动技能，他们的社会心理能力，他们的早期阅读能力，他们的早期算术能力。在莫桑比克，我们尤其重视年龄3到5岁的孩子。”
Rare, but effective
While preschool programs are common in the United States and other developed countries, Simpson said they’re rare in African nations.
辛普森说，尽管学前教育项目在美国和其它发达国家非常普遍，但是在非洲国家却很少见。
“Often young children between zero and 3 years old, the health systems are keeping track of them and they’re doing vaccinations and things like that. And then, when they turn about 5 or 6, they enter into the school systems and the ministries of education take them over. But these in-between years, they’re not being cared for by the health ministries and they’re not yet being looked after by the education ministries in many cases,” she said.
辛普森说：“通常年龄从0到3岁的儿童，卫生系统一直在关注着他们的健康，他们会接受疫苗接种等。随后，当他们到了5到6岁的时候，他们开始进入学校系统，教育部门开始接管他们。但是在这期间的几年，在很多情况下，他们既没有得到卫生系统的照顾，也没有受到教育系统的关注。”
She added that the young students react positively from the beginning.
辛普森女士说，年幼的学生从一开始就表现得非常积极。
“They like to interact with their peers. They love having the chance to play, to learn, to read. So children really do thrive when they have a chance. Children are universal all over. They want to learn and develop and these programs do give them that chance,” she said.
辛普森说：“他们喜欢和同伴互动。他们很乐意得到玩耍，学习和阅读的机会。当得到机会的时候，孩子们就会健康茁壮成长。哪里的孩子都是一样的。他们都希望学习和进步，而这些项目就给了他们这样的机会。”
What’s more, Simpson said, the World Bank evaluation clearly outlined the benefits of the preschool program.
辛普森女士介绍说，世界银行的评估还清楚地显示出这些学前教育项目带来的其它益处。
“Children were about 24 percent more likely to enroll in primary school. And they also were significantly better equipped to learn than children who weren’t part of the program. Also children who were going to preschool school are more likely to show interest in math and writing. They can recognize shapes better and they show respect for other children as well. So there are socializing benefits as well,” she said.
辛普森说：“参与这些项目的儿童大约有百分之24的机率会更可能到小学上学。相比没有参加学前教育的孩子，他们明显具有更好的学习能力。同样，到学前学校上学的儿童，更可能对算术和写作表现出兴趣。他们能够更好地辨识出形状，他们也对其他孩子表现出尊重。因此，学前教育还有社会交往后的益处。”
Studies have shown long-term benefits of preschool include better job prospects later in life. There are also ripple effects.
研究还显示，学前教育的长期益处还包括这些孩子未来生活中会具有更佳的就业前景。同时还有其它联带的效应。
“The kids who are actually in the program benefitted, but in many cases their older siblings benefitted, as well. If a school age child had a younger sibling participating in an early childhood program, they were more likely to be in school. And the parents of these children were also more likely to be working,” Simpson said.
辛普森说：“不仅参与这些项目的儿童本人受益，而且很多情况下，家里比他们年长的哥哥姐姐也从中受益。如果一个学龄儿童有一个比自己年纪小的弟妹参加早期儿童教育项目，他们会更可能去上学。这些孩子的父母也更可能拥有工作。”
The Save the Children preschool program was funded through a $1 million donation. It came from the American Idol TV show’s charity wing called Idol Gives Back. The cost per child for preschool in rural Mozambique is $2.50 a month.
“救助儿童会”学前教育项目是从100万美元的捐款开始兴办的。这些捐款来自于“美国偶像”电视选秀节目一个叫作“偶像回馈”的慈善机构。在莫桑比克农村接受学前教育的每个孩子每月的费用仅为2点5美元。 |