VOA慢速英语--新冠状病毒引发非洲教育危机

New Coronavirus Creates Education Crisis¹ Across Africa

There seems to be many choices for students in Africa to continue studying while schools remain closed because of the coronavirus crisis. Lessons are taught on television or over the radio. Math problems appear in newspapers. Classes are held on video conferencing services like Zoom² or WhatsApp.

But the truth is that many students will fall behind and possibly drop out of school forever. If that happens, inequality will worsen across an already unequal continent.

Mary Goretti Nakabugo is a literacy³ expert who runs a nonprofit education organization called Uwezo. It is based in Uganda.

Nakabugo told The Associated Press, "I think education now is more of an emergency than the health issue. Children, she added, "are completely helpless at the moment."

Nakabugo said that limited testing for COVID-19 means cases are likely undercounted in the East African country. But there have been no reported virus deaths in Uganda and just over 1,000 cases.

The coronavirus crisis has created education difficulties around the world. But the schooling⁴ crisis is even more severe in Africa, where up to 80 percent of students are unable to connect to the internet. Electricity is also sometimes not dependable, making distance learning difficult or even impossible. And, in normal times, schools often provide safety to children and offer services that their families cannot pay for.

Sub-Saharan Africa has more children who do not attend school than any other place in the world. The United Nations culture and education agency reports nearly one-fifth of children between the ages of six and 11, and over one-third of youth between 12 and 14, do not attend school.

In a report published this week, the charity organization Save the Children called the coronavirus crisis the "biggest global education emergency of our time." The report identified 12 countries in which children "are at extremely high risk of dropping out forever." Nine of them are in sub-Saharan Africa.

With the help of outside groups, some African governments have announced measures to support learning from home. But many have been limited by a lack of dependable electricity and poor internet connectivity. Even publishing lessons in newspapers can be too costly⁵ for people in some places.

Uganda's government has promised to provide 10 million radios and over 130,000 solar-powered television sets. But officials have failed to honor other promises during the crisis, including giving free face coverings to everyone.

In neighboring Kenya, schools for young children and teenagers will remain closed through 2020. Yet colleges and universities can reopen in September. The decision means Kenyan students will repeat a school year, a situation commonly described as a "dead year."

The effects of school closures will not be limited to learning. A report by the Norway-based Christian⁶ Michelsen Institute said, "The critical consequences may be related to health, water and nutrition." That is because schools provide important services to many African young people, the development research organization noted⁷.

School closures may deny students access to food and health programs -- and sometimes clean water.

Schools also provide protection for children from work and exploitation. Girls may especially suffer, says literacy expert Nakabugo. She noted several studies that have reported a rise in pregnancies⁸ among teenagers. The Norway-based group's report noted that the same thing happened during West Africa's Ebola crisis.

The shutdown could also mean many schools close permanently⁹ and many teachers quit, worsening what is already the world's worst teacher shortage¹⁰.

Media reports in Uganda point to school owners who are looking to sell their properties or have turned student housing into apartments in order to pay their loans.

In the West African nation of Senegal, education officials tried to keep children learning by broadcasting some classes on television after schools closed in March. The move aimed to reach students without home internet access. But electricity is often lacking in villages.

At many schools in Zimbabwe, up to 70 students may be placed into a small room. The government is postponing¹¹ a reopening plan that was supposed to start this month. Teachers unions, or labor¹² groups, warned that such a plan was dangerous for schools lacking face coverings, personal cleaning products, and even running water.

Even in South Africa, the continent's biggest economy, the government has faced criticism. Teachers unions question the government's decision to reopen schools despite a growing number of cases.

I'm Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

conferencing – n. the act of meeting formally in order to talk about ideas or problems related to a given topic, such as medicine or business)

drop out – p.v. to stop attending a school or university before you have completed your studies

literacy – n. the ability to read and write

charity – n. the act of giving money, food, or other kinds of help to people who are poor or sick

global – adj. involving the entire world

solar – adj. of or relating to the sun

consequence(s) – n. something that happens as a result of a particular action or set of conditions

access – n. a way of being able to use or get something

exploitation – n. the act of using someone or something in a way that is unfair

teenager(s) – n. someone who is between 13 and 19 years old

apartment(s) – n. a usually rented room or set of rooms that is part of a building and is used as a place to live

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

3 literacy   

n.识字，有文化，读写能力

参考例句：

• I can't believe that he failed the literacy test.我无法相信他识字测试不及格。
• The literacy rate there is the highest in Central America.那里的识字率居中美洲之首。

4 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

9 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

10 shortage   

n.缺少，缺乏，不足

参考例句：

• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。
• The heart of the problem is a shortage of funds.问题的关键是缺乏经费。

11 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。