Sending Children to School

 

送孩子上学

Sending a child to school in England is a step which many parents do not find easy to take.

在英格兰，送孩子上学对于家长来说并不容易。

In theory, at least, the problem is that there are very many choices to make.

至少从理论上讲，问题在于有很多选择。

Let us try to list some of the alternatives between which parents are forced to decide.

让我们罗列一些父母们不得不做出的选择。

To begin with, they may ask themselves whether they would like their child to go to a single-sex school or a co-educational school.

首先，他们会自问是想让孩子去男女分校还是男女合校。

They may also consider whether he should go to a school which is connected to a particular church or religious group,or whether the school should have no such connections.

他们也会考虑是去一所与某类教会或宗教社团有关联的学校。

Another decision is whether the school should be one of the vast majority financed by the State or one of the very small but influential minority of private schools,though this choice is, of course,only available to the small number of those who can pay.

另一项要做的决定是，应该从政府资助的大批学校中选择一所就读，还是从那些规模很小但有影响力的少数几个私立学校中择校，当然，这种选择仅限于少数能付起学费的人。

Also connected with the question of money is whether the child should go to a boarding school or live at home.

与钱的问题有联系的还有孩子是应该到寄宿学校还是住在家里。

Then there is the question of what the child should do at school.

接下来的问题还有孩子在学校该学什么。

Should it be a school whose curriculum lays emphasis,for instance, on necessary skills,such as reading, writing and mathematics,or one which pays more attention to developing the child's personality,morally, emotionally and socially.

应该选把课程重点放在必需的技能，例如阅读，写作和数学上的学校，还是应选注重从道德，情感和社会性方面培养孩子的个性的学校。

Finally, with dissatisfaction with conventional education as great as it is in some circles in England and certainly in the USA,the question might even arise in the parents' minds as to whether the child should be compelled to go to school at all.

最后，在英格兰的一些圈子里，当然在美国也是，人们对传统教育方式是如此不满，以至在家长的脑海里产生了这样的疑问，就是到底应不应该强迫孩子去上学。

Although in practice,some parents may not think twice about any of these choices and send their child to the only school available in the immediate neighbourhood,any parent who is interested enough can insist that as many choices as possible be made open to him,and the system is theoretically supposed to provide them.

尽管从实践上看，一些家长不会对这些选择深思熟虑，而是直接把孩子送到邻近的学校中，但是，有足够兴趣的家长仍可以坚持有尽可能多的选择机会，而且理论上来讲教育系统也应该提供给他们多种选择。