VOA慢速英语:High Dropout Rate a Problem for South Africa

Since the nineteen nineties, education has been required for all South Africans from age seven to fifteen. Last December, the government announced that seventy percent of students passed their final examination to finish high school. In two thousand eight the passage rate was about sixty-three percent. There have been increases each year since then.
从二十世纪九十年代起，南非所有7到15岁儿童必须接受教育。去年12月，政府宣布有70%的学生通过高中毕业的最终考试。2008年的通过率约63%，从那时起这个比率一直在上升。

Professor Shireen Motala at the University of Johannesburg says access to basic education is no longer the problem in South Africa. She says most children stay in school until they are about sixteen. The problem now, she says, is that large numbers of them leave without completing high school.
约翰内斯堡大学的Shireen Motala教授表示，非洲儿童接受基本教育已不是问题。她说，孩子们会在学校一直待到16岁左右。现在的问题是，很多学生没毕业就离开高中了。

Students take an examination known as the matric in grade twelve, their final or "matriculation" year. Professor Motala notes that less than half the children who started school in two thousand sat for the matric last year.
学生们在十二年级时参加大学入学考试，十二年级是他们最后一个学年，也被称为入学考试学年。Motala教授指出，2000年入学的学生中，有不到一半的学生参加了去年的大学入学许可考试。

SHIREEN MOTALA: "Only, I think, around forty-five percent survived, which means that a large number of children are falling by the wayside.  And the concern is that where do those learners actually go to."
SHIREEN MOTALA：“我想有大约55%的学生完成了高中学习，就是说还有大批学生半路就退学了。而值得关注得是这些学生实际上去往何处。”

South Africa has a twenty-four percent unemployment rate. Those who drop out must compete with better educated people for jobs.
南非失业率为24%。辍学者必须与受过更好教育的人竞争工作岗位。
Educational researchers also point to another problem. They say South African schools do not produce enough students with the skills for higher education in math and science.
教育研究人员还指出了另一个问题，他们说南非的学校未能培养出足够多的擅长数学和科学，以接受高等教育的学生。

One of those researchers is Graeme Bloch. He says many schools are not well-equipped.
其中一名研究人员是Graeme Bloch，表示许多学校没有良好的设备。

GRAEME BLOCH: "The reality of poverty and resources, that children do not see laboratories and as a result, or partly as a result, their science marks are not very good. They do not have libraries at school. Ninety-two percent of the schools do not have libraries."
GRAEME BLOCH：“由于贫困和资源的现实问题，孩子们没有实验室，结果，或许说部分因为这个原因，他们的科学成绩不是很好。学校里也没有图书馆，92%的学校都没有图书馆。”

Also, education specialists say in many cases, teachers and school principals do not have the skills or training to do their jobs. In other cases, they are simply not doing their duty to provide an education.
而且，教育专家说，在很多情况下，教师和校长不具备工作的技能，也没有接受过相关培训。而在其他情况下，他们根本就无法履行教育的责任。

Professor Motala says a number of teachers were poorly trained during the system of apartheid, or racial separation in South Africa. Apartheid ended in nineteen ninety-four.
Motala教授说，在南非种族隔离期间，许多教师培训不到位。种族隔离于1994年结束。

Secondly, she says, teachers have been confused by the many educational reform efforts in the last fifteen years. And, finally, she thinks language differences in the classroom have not gotten as much attention as they should.
其次，在过去的15年里，教师被诸多教育改革措施搞糊涂了。而最后，她认为课堂上的语言差异没有得到应有的重视。

SHIREEN MOTALA: "There is the big issue of language, which we have not taken enough cognizance of, which I think is a huge problem."
SHIREEN MOTALA：“这是语言上的大问题，但却没有得到足够的重视，我认为这是个很大的问题。”

Subjects such as math and science are taught in English starting at about age ten. But South Africa has eleven official languages and many more unofficial ones.
学生大约10岁时开始学的数学和科学等科目是用英语教学的，但南非有11种官方语言，还有许多种非官方语言。

South Africa's minister of basic education promises a number of improvements. Angie Motshega says teacher development efforts will focus on subject and content knowledge, and making sure the correct teachers are in the correct jobs.
南非基础教育部长承诺将做出一些改进，Angie Motshega说，教师提高项目将主要关注科目和知识内容，并确保适合的教师放在适当的位置上。