VOA慢速英语: 南非新教育计划，考试分数下降

Test Scores Drop in South Africa with New Education Plan
南非实施新教育计划，考试分数下降
Every year, South African 12th grade students take a test to decide their next steps following the completion of high school. Many students were unhappy with the results of their 2014 exam. The scores were released January 5.Universities use the scores to make admissions decisions.
每年，南非12年级的学生参加考试，决定他们完成高中教育后的去向问题。很多学生对他们2014年的考试结果并不满意。1月5号公布的分数。大学用分数来决定大学生的录取。
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced that the Class of 2014pass rate was 75.8 percent. That represents a drop of almost two and one half points from the pass rate in 2013.
基础教育部长安吉·莫特卡宣布2014年学生的大学通过率是75.8%。比2013年的通过率降低了2.5%。
Exam results argued
争论考试结果
The meaning of the numbers quickly became a subject of political debate.
大学考试通过率很快成为一场政治争论。
President Jacob Zuma sees the results as a sign of progress. A presidential statement said, “South Africa is especially proud of the Class of 2014 as they represent a special category of learners who sat through their exams as the country celebrated 20 years of freedom and democracy."
南非总统雅各布·祖玛认为这个结果是进步的一个标志。总统发布一份声明：“对2014级的这拨学生，南非特别引以为豪，因为他们代表一个特殊的群体，庆祝国家取得自由和民主20周年的时刻，他们通过了考试。”
However, the opposition disagreed. The Pan Africanist Congress party said it thinks the results show serious problems in South Africa's education system.
The P.A.C. also criticized President Zuma’s ruling African National Congress. The Pan Africanists said they do not think enough jobs are available for young adults who have just completed high school.
但是，反对者不赞同这一观点。泛非主义者大会（The Pan Africanist Congress party）认为这个考试结果表明南非的教育体制存在严重问题。他们还批判总统祖马控制着南非的国会。他们不认为社会上有那么多适合完成高中学业的年轻人的工作。
A party official said students should be able to find jobs after studying for 12years.
一个官员称：对于上了12年学的学生来说，他们应该能找到工作。
Nombulelo Nyathela is a spokeswoman for the advocacy group Equal Education. She said the test issue is more complex than the way either political side sees it.
诺布罗·那瑟拉是宣扬公平教育的发言人。她说测试结果比政客所看到的问题要复杂。
Education struggles
教育斗争
Ms. Nyathela said the numbers are only part of the story of education in South Africa. There is also a problem with students who leave school before grade12. About half of the students who enter grade 2 drop out of, or leave, school before grade 12.
那瑟拉认为这些通过考试的数字是南非教育改革进程的一部分。有的学生没有完成12年的教育就辍学了。有一半的学生完成12年教育之前就离开学校了。
"We need to be careful about using the matric pass rate as the only indicator of either an improvement or … a decline in the education system.”
“在使用毕业考试合格率作为教育体制的提升或下降的唯一指示方面，我们需要认真考虑。”
It has been 20 years since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule and enforced racial separation in South Africa. The government is trying to give all its citizens an equal education. The country established a new education program in 2012.
在南非少数白人统治的种族隔离制度已经结束20年了。政府试图让所有民众公平接受教育。2012年，南非建立一种新的教育项目。
Students who took the 2014 test were the first to study under the program. It began when they were in grade 10. The program is designed to guide teachers on better teaching. For example, the teachers now ask more ‘high-order’ questions. These are questions that make the students think carefully about what they are learning. The new exams are based on this higher quality of teaching.
而通过2014年测验考试的同学会成为该项目的第一批学生。这个项目在他们上10年级的时候就开始了，旨在指导老师更好地教学。例如：老师现在会问一些高层次的问题。这些问题会让学生认真思考他们学习到的内容。这项新测试就是基于高水平的教育方式进行。
Angie Motshekga said students who do not pass the exam would have a chance to take it again. She said some students may need extra help after only two years of the new learning program.
安吉·莫特拉认为没有通过考试的学生会有机会在参加考试。她说这项两年的新的学习项目，有的学会或许需要额外的帮助。
Improvements still needed
仍然需要继续改进
Nombulelo Nyathela said that South Africa should spend more money on improving education. She said she thinks a lack of resources is the root of the systemic problems in basic education.
诺布罗·那瑟拉表示南非应该在提升教育方面投入更多的钱。他认为缺乏资源是基础教育体制问题的根源。
“So we definitely need schools with laboratories, schools with libraries, schools with adequate-sized classrooms, schools with fences where learners feel secure, schools with adequate teachers, so that, you know, teachers are not teaching classes of over 100 learners.”
“我们十分需要有实验室、图书馆、空间足够大的教室、学校还要有让学生感到安全的围墙，有足够的师资力量的学校，这样老师就不用教超过100人的一个班。”
I’m Caty Weaver.
我是凯蒂·威弗尔。
Anita Powell reported this story for VOA from Johannesburg, South Africa. Jill Robbins wrote it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Words in This Story
advocacy - n. the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal
indicator - n. a sign that shows the condition or existence of something
decline - n. the process of becoming worse in condition or quality
apartheid - n. a former social system in South Africa in which black people and people from other racial groups did not have the same political and economic rights as white people and were forced to live separately from white people