新西兰英语 590 Minister of Education sacks School Board

 　　The Minister of Education sacked the Board of Trustees at Moerewa School yesterday. This is a small rural Northland school which used to offer classes from Years 1 to 10 but in the last three years has had about 25 students altogether in Years 11, 12 and 13. The Minister of Education said they did not do well in their NCEA results and must go to a nearby high school. The pass rate (achieve rate) for NCEA was only 11%.

　　Moerewa is a small rural town where about 80% of the population is Maori. There is high unemployment and poverty in the area. The school tries to offer a happy, positive Maori experience for their children. However, the Ministry¹ of Education said that it was impossible for two teachers to teach 12 subjects well to their senior students.

　　The Board of Trustees in every school in New Zealand consists mostly of parents. They are elected by parents. The Board of Trustees at Moerewa refused to send the senior students to another school so the Minister of Education removed the Board and appointed a Commissioner². He will work with staff to make sure the school provides a good learning place for the students.

　　This is not the first time the Minister of Education has sacked a Board of Trustees. Usually a Commissioner stays at a school for a year or two, until the problem is fixed³, then a new Board of Trustees is elected.

　　Vocabulary

　　to sack people – to fire them, remove them from their job

　　NCEA – National Certificate of Educational Achievement (Years 11, 12 and 13)

　　achieve – good enough to reach the standard, to pass

　　poverty – being poor

　　positive – a good experience

　　elected – parents vote for Board members

　　refused – said “No”

　　senior students – Years 11, 12 and 13

　　appointed – employed him

　　Commissioner – usually an ex-principal, someone experienced who will fix the problems at the school

1 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。

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。