肯尼亚法院命令老师结束罢工返回学校

AS IT IS 2015-09-29 Kenyan Court Orders Teachers Back to School 肯尼亚法院命令老师结束罢工返回学校

A court in Kenya ruled Friday that the country's public school teachers must return to the classroom this week.

周五，肯尼亚一座法庭裁决，全国公立学校教师必须于本周内返回学校。

A Supreme¹ Court ruling on August 24 said the teachers were due a 50-to 60-percent pay increase. The government then said it could not pay the teachers the increase. The teachers argued that if the government could fund state-owned businesses, they could fund teachers. The teachers walked out of their classrooms on September 1.

8月24日最高法院一份裁决称，老师应该加薪50%至60%。政府随后表示，他们不会给教师加薪。教师辩称，如果政府为国有企业提供资金，也应该付给老师工资。9月1日，教师们走出教室罢课。

The Ministry² of Education called the strike illegal and stopped paying striking teachers on September 14. It closed all public and private schools on September 21 because it said "little to no teaching" has happened since the strike began.

教育部称这次罢工是非法的，于9月14日停止向罢工教师支付工资。9月21日，肯尼亚关闭了所有公立和私立学校，因为自教师罢工以来，几乎没有老师给学生上课。

On Friday, Judge Nelson Abuodha told the teachers to suspend their strike. Over 10 million primary and secondary school students are waiting for school to start. The fall term is especially important for students who take national exams in October and November. However, Wilson Sossion, the leader of the teachers' union -- called the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) -- said that the strike isn't over.

周五，法官Nelson Abuodha告诉教师们停止罢工。超过1000万小学和初中学生等待开课。对于即将于10月和11月参加全国考试的学生来说，秋季的这一学期非常重要。然而，教师工会（全称为肯尼亚全国教师工会）领导人Wilson Sossion称罢工还没有结束。

"The ruling is fantastic in the sense that it does not call off the strike. It suspends it for 90 days. Ninety days means up to January 2016."

“最高法院的裁决非常好，因为它没有要求取消罢工，只是要求暂停90天。90天意味着到2016年1月份。”

The court also ordered that the government and the teachers' unions choose an individual or committee to help solve the issue within 30 days.

法庭还下令政府和教师工会选择个人或者专员在30天内帮助解决这一问题。

Sossion says it's important that the court did not call the strike illegal.

Sossion表示，法庭并未称这次罢工是非法的，这非常重要。

"We can't be on strike forever and we weren't ready to be on strike forever. There are examinations. We must allow exams to go on and the strike is suspended. That gives us a window of opportunity to allow other systems to take up the matter."

“我们不能永远罢工，我们不能准备永远罢工。学生们还要考试。我们要让考试继续，罢工必须暂停。这给我们提供了机会，让其他系统接管这一事宜。”

The Teacher Service Commission (TSC) is the government organization that manages teachers. The court said that the TSC cannot punish striking teachers. The court said the TSC must pay the teachers' salaries.

教师服务委员会是管理教师的政府组织。法庭表示，教师服务委员会不能惩罚罢工的教师。法庭表示，他们必须付给老师们薪水。

Nearly half of teachers in Kenya earn between $158 and $234 each month, according to the Institute for Economic Affairs in Nairobi.

根据内罗毕经济事务研究所的调查，肯尼亚近半数的教师月薪在158美元至234美元之间。

Evanson Musembi is a Nairobi resident. He and others like him say that teachers should end their strike entirely³.

Evanson Musembi是一位内罗毕居民。他和其他像他一样的人表示，教师们应该完全停止罢工。

"Teachers should go to school, then the children learn. Personal interests should come later… no one is forced to go into the teaching industry. If you feel there is not enough pay there, go ahead and look for greener pastures."

“教师们应该回到学校，这样学生们才能学习。个人利益应该放在集体利益之后。任何人都不是被迫进入教师行业的。如果你觉得薪资不够高，你可以辞职去追寻更好的前景。”

It is still unclear when the teachers will go back to school. KNUT originally planned to make an announcement after meeting with the judge on Monday. However, the judge's poor health has caused this to be delayed till Thursday.

目前还不清楚教师们何时返回学校。肯尼亚全国教师工会原本计划周一与法官会晤后宣布决定。然而，法官糟糕的健康状况导致宣告被推迟至周四。

"As of now teachers will not take instructions from anyone," KNUT posted on its Facebook page today. "Status quo remains⁴."

“截止到目前为止，教师们不会听从任何人的指导。”肯尼亚全国教师联盟今天发表在脸书网页上的通知称。“继续维持现状。”

Words in This Story

fund – v. to provide money for (something)

fantastic – adj. extremely good

call off – p.v. to stop doing or planning to do something

opportunity – n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

salaries – n. an amount of money that an employee is paid each year

greener pastures – idiom. a new and better place or situation

status quo – n. the way things are now

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 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。

3 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。