VOA常速英语2015--柬埔寨教育改革 杜绝考试作弊

 

Cambodia's No Cheating Rule Marks Big Change for Students 柬埔寨教育改革 杜绝考试作弊

PHNOM PENH—

Cambodia’s final exam results for 2014 were disastrous², with more than half of the 90,000 students failing. The reason? The authorities stamped out cheating - the first of a series of reforms designed to fix the impoverished³ country’s broken education sector⁴.

柬埔寨2014年届的结业考试成绩一塌糊涂，九万名学生中超过半数不及格。原因是当局杜绝考试作弊。这是一系列改革中的第一步，只在消除这个贫困国家的种种教育弊端。

The decision to stamp out cheating had a huge impact. Sixty percent of the class of 2014 failed their final year of school, despite getting a second chance to retake their tests in October.

杜绝考试作弊的决定影响巨大。2014届毕业生在10月有一次补考的机会，但还是有60%的学生没有通过结业考试。

The class of 2015 has taken note.

2015届学生得到警示。

Final year student Rattana said his peers realize the “no cheating in exams” rule means they will need to apply themselves to pass and get into university.

高三学生罗塔那说，他的同学意识到“考试无作弊”的规定意味着他们要开始努力学习，通过考试，才能进入大学。

“The new policy means we’re studying harder and not going out as much as we used to. It also means we won’t have to spend money during exams,” he said.

高三学生罗塔那说：“新政策意味着我们要更努力学习，不能像以前那样经常出去玩了。这也表示我们在考试期间不用花钱了。”

The new policy is courtesy of Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron, appointed a year ago after a decade as a deputy finance minister. Naron said reforming education is critical to Cambodia's development.

这个新政出自教育大臣韩春纳洛之手。韩春纳洛一年前被任命为教育大臣，他之前当了十年的财政部副部长。他说，教育改革对柬埔寨的发展至关重要。

“So the most important factor is that there is a skills mismatch in Cambodia. And it becomes an obstacle to economic development, to growth, to attracting foreign direct investment. So we have investors⁵ coming in; they look for [a] skilled labor⁶ force - we don’t have enough. But at the supply side we have many graduates that cannot find jobs. And this is a problem that many countries are facing - the skills mismatch," said Naron.

教育大臣韩春纳洛说：“最重要的因素是柬埔寨的技能不匹配，这成为经济发展和吸引外国直接投资的一个障碍。投资者要熟练技术工，但我们这类劳动力不足。然而在劳动力供应方面，我们又有很多毕业生找不到工作。技能不匹配是许多国家面临的问题。”

The new policy aims for improved teacher training, better school governance, and promoting critical thinking and problem solving for Cambodia's 2.9 million school-age children.

新政的目的是改善教师培训，更好地进行学校管理，以及提高柬埔寨290万学龄儿童的批判性思维和解决问题的能力。

Underpaid teachers will earn more and schools will get increased funding from an education budget that will rise sharply to $440 million.

工资过低的教师的收入将增加。教育预算将大幅提高到4.4亿美元，学校因此将得到更多政府拨款。

Cambodia certainly has a long way to go: its ratio of 46 pupils per primary school teacher, for instance, is the worst in the world outside Africa.

诚然，柬埔寨的改革之路还很长。例如，柬埔寨小学的教师学生比为1比46，这个比率是世界上除非洲国家外最低的。

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing $90 million over five years to improve the quality of education and cut the dropout⁷ rate. The ADB's Sophea Mar¹ applauds the government’s decision to boost education spending, but said that at 17 percent of expenditure⁸, it’s still low.

亚洲开发银行将在未来五年向柬埔寨提供9千万美元，用于改善教育质量和降低辍学率。亚洲开发银行的索匹亚?马尔对政府增加教育支出表示赞赏，但他表示，教育支出的占比为17%，仍然不高。

“Budget allocation is important, but also expenditure is even more important. And this is a big challenge because you know the capacity at the school level, at the sub-national level, remains⁹ an issue. So reform is not just only taking place within the ministry¹⁰. The reform has to start from the classroom, has to start from the lower level,” said Mar.

亚洲发展银行索匹亚?马尔说：“预算分配很重要，但支出更重要。这是个挑战，因为学校和地方的能力仍是个问题。因此，改革不是教育部说改就改的，改革必须从课堂开始，从底层开始。”

Ensuring these reforms succeed, he said, will need the backing not only of government, but of students, parents and the private sector.

他表示，要确保这些改革成功，不仅需要政府的支持，还需要学生、家长和民间的支持。

1 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

2 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

3 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

8 expenditure   

n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗

参考例句：

• The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。
• The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。