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2006年VOA标准英语-Ghana Striving to Stem School Drop Out Rate

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(单词翻译)

By Efam Dovi
Accra
12 June 2006
 
In Ghana, about 20 percent of teenage girls drop out of school, or fail to finish their exams. Authorities say many of them leave school because they have become pregnant. Activists1 say the girls are ostracized2 by society, and should be provided the resources that would allow them to continue their education.

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It is another school day at the Apenkwa Presbyterian Primary School in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, and pupils are studying science. But one member of the class is not in school today.

Mary's mother has accompanied her to a prenatal clinic. The attending nurse is advising her to eat more fruits and vegetables, so she and her unborn baby will be healthy.

Mary has not been to school for the past five months, since she discovered she was pregnant.

Like many young girls in deprived urban communities, Mary helps to support the family by selling kerosene3 after school. It was during one of those errands that a customer's husband, old enough to be her father, raped5 Mary.

Now 15, she is six months pregnant.

"It worries me. I have been having nightmares that disturbs my brains, and I want him arrested," she says, "I get nightmare of the incident, and I told my mother that it is worrying me, so I want him arrested."

It is a criminal offense6 in Ghana to have sexual relations with anyone under the age of 16. Offenders7 can face up to 25 years in prison.

But the man who got Mary pregnant is still walking free in the community because the incident has not been reported to the police.

The police believe a lot of rape4 cases in low income communities go unreported, because parents are more concerned about financial support for victims if the man, who is normally expected to provide financial support, is convicted.

In Mary's case, the man who got her pregnant promised her parents he would provide financial support for Mary through the pregnancy8 and pleaded with them not to report the incident to the police.
 

Asare Bediako  
  
Asare Bediako, coordinator9 of the domestic violence and victims support unit of the Ghana police hopes a proposed domestic violence bill currently before parliament will facilitate conviction of men charged with rape and create a mechanism10 for government support of these girls and their babies.

"There is a provision in the memorandum11, which will take care of eh…those who (are raped), and the man has been convicted and sentence to prison, the child has come out, how is he going to be taken care of? Such things will be taken care of by the government," he says. 


Leticia and her baby  
  
Leticia is 14 and already a mother of a 10-month-old. She wants to go back to school, but her grandmother, who takes care of her and the baby, has asked Leticia to find a job.

More than 20 percent of girls drop out of basic school in Ghana every year. It is not known how many of them are pregnant, but the number is believed to be high, according to Victoria Donkor, acting12 director of basic education.


Victoria Donko   
  
"I can't give you the actual figure, but I can give you a typical example of what happened in the just ended BECE (Basic Education Certificate Examination) examination," she says. " When we went round to monitor, we realized that the girls' rate of absenteeism was higher than those of the boys, and the main reason that we were given was that they were pregnant, either pregnant, or they have just given birth, that's why they were not able to write their exams. So, that gives you a rough idea of the percentage of dropping out of school as a result of the girl getting pregnant."

Rights advocates have criticized the education authorities for compounding the problem by implementing13 a policy that allows heads of school to dismiss girls who become pregnant. Recently, there have been reports of girls being forced to undergo a pregnancy test.
 

Nana Oye Lithur  
  
Nana Oye Lithur, director of Commonwealth14 Human Rights Initiative, wants the practice abolished.

"When I read my law, what I can say is that their rights to education is being violated, especially because they are a vulnerable group, and we don't have, we have not collated15 a data in this country on how many of these female students who are dismissed from school because they are pregnant, how many of them are able to go back to school," she says. "You find out that not many of them are able to go back, once they are dismissed from school."

The education service defends its policy, saying pregnant girls are kept out of school for their own health and safety, and are allowed to come back to school after delivery.

However, Nana Lithur says the government needs to do more.

"It is one thing, just saying, the director just saying they can get back, (but) what provisions have you put in place. Because (if) the girl gets pregnant, she has to take care of the baby, she has to provide food, her economic status comes into play, and she also has to pay school fees," she says. " So, what sort of environment or what sort of situation do you create for such a girl to still be able to attend school."

Ghana is a state party to international and regional conventions and charters on the right of the child to education. Human rights advocates say the government, given this role, should be protecting children's rights


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1 activists 90fd83cc3f53a40df93866d9c91bcca4     
n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
  • Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 ostracized ebf8815809823320b153d461e88dad4b     
v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 );流放;摈弃;排斥
参考例句:
  • He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
  • The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
3 kerosene G3uxW     
n.(kerosine)煤油,火油
参考例句:
  • It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
  • Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电,有煤油灯。
4 rape PAQzh     
n.抢夺,掠夺,强奸;vt.掠夺,抢夺,强奸
参考例句:
  • The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
  • He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。
5 raped 7a6e3e7dd30eb1e3b61716af0e54d4a2     
v.以暴力夺取,强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 );强奸
参考例句:
  • A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
  • We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致,不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句
6 offense HIvxd     
n.犯规,违法行为;冒犯,得罪
参考例句:
  • I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
  • His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。
7 offenders dee5aee0bcfb96f370137cdbb4b5cc8d     
n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 );犯规者;罪犯;妨害…的人(或事物)
参考例句:
  • Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
  • Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。
8 pregnancy lPwxP     
n.怀孕,怀孕期
参考例句:
  • Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
  • Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。
9 coordinator Gvazk6     
n.协调人
参考例句:
  • The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下,负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
  • How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室?
10 mechanism zCWxr     
n.机械装置;机构,结构
参考例句:
  • The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
  • The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。
11 memorandum aCvx4     
n.备忘录,便笺
参考例句:
  • The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
  • The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。
12 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
13 implementing be68540dfa000a0fb38be40d32259215     
v.实现( implement的现在分词 );执行;贯彻;使生效
参考例句:
  • -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
  • He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句
14 commonwealth XXzyp     
n.共和国,联邦,共同体
参考例句:
  • He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
  • Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。
15 collated 36df79bfd7bdf62b3b44f1a6f476ea69     
v.校对( collate的过去式和过去分词 );整理;核对;整理(文件或书等)
参考例句:
  • When both versions of the story were collated,major discrepancies were found. 在将这个故事的两个版本对照后,找出了主要的不符之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Information was collated from several data centers around the country. 信息从城市四周的几个数据中心得到校对。 来自互联网

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