VOA标准英语2010年-South Africa's Education System Crumbl

South Africa's public education system shows signs of serious decline. Reports of dismal¹ graduation rates, bad teachers and crumbling² buildings are commonplace. Our correspondent reports from Grahamstown that in Eastern Cape³ Province, one of the poorest regions in the country, the public education system is in chaos⁴.

You cannot tell from the faces of the school children, but their futures⁵ are in jeopardy⁶. Many of their public schools in the Eastern Cape are literally⁷ falling apart.

Xolile, who goes by one name, runs an organization known as Save Our Schools in Grahamstown. He says everything in the schools is in urgent need of repair.

"Like the toilet system, the classrooms, the desks, the windows - so most things the department can easily fix," said Xolile.

The Provincial⁸ Department of Education is in charge of everything relating to public schools .  And based on public speeches, officials seem fully⁹ aware of the schools' condition. But an department spokesman told VOA he could not find anyone to comment on the situation. 

Xolile says administrators¹⁰ at  this school have asked for help to fix the boys' bathroom for the past five years. There is no water for the sinks and toilets. The roof has large holes in it. Students beg for help, says student leader Dumisani Papi. 

"We wrote letters to the department," said Dumisani Papi. "We did a lot of stuff as in cleaning the toilets, but no help has come."

These were the bathroom conditions at another school. And it does not seem to be a matter of money. The national government devotes 19 percent of its budget to schools. 

"They do have the money, sir," said Papi. "They do have the money."

This kind of situation is repeated across the province, where much of the school infrastructure¹¹ is in disrepair.

These students climb through the classroom window because the door is broken.

The problem is even worse in rural areas. Here, most students still go to school in mud structures, even though the government promised to replace all of them years ago. Cameron McConnachie took these pictures. 

He is an attorney for the Legal Resources Center. He explains what happened at one school after the government did take down an old mud school.

"When the contractor¹² arrived, he demolished¹³ what did exist," said Cameron McConnachie. "He built the trenches¹⁴ for a new school and then disappeared. They were left with nothing."

This is what is left.  Community leaders complained, but three years later nothing has been done. So they hired McConnachie to sue the education department.

"It almost seems like a disregard for the integrity and dignity of people," he said.

In the meantime, the students learn in temporary shacks¹⁵ of corrugated¹⁶ tin.

"Broken down doors are used as tables, bricks that are strewn around the construction site those are the seats," said McConnachie.

Most schools have a shortage of teachers as well. Nyaluza High School for more than a year has been asking the education department to replace four teachers who were moved to another school. The schools' principal is Mangaliso Nkwinti.

"I don't know how many times we have been to the department," said Mangaliso Nkwinti. "And how many times we have been so angry, talking to them, trying to show them the situation at the school, why we need so many teachers and to improve, which is the bottom line here."

Students at many schools are forced to share the few available books. George Lamani teaches at Nyaluza High School:

"My principal has just explained that we have been systematically¹⁷ knocking at their door, talking professionally with them and they are not listening," said George Lamani.

The average number of students who graduate from high school in Eastern Cape Province is 50 percent. Some schools graduate as few as nine percent of their students.

Derek Luyt runs the Public Service Accountability Monitor that monitors the educational system here. He says another major problem is the quality of the teachers.

"Those who teach the teachers are not well qualified¹⁸ and the teachers themselves are not qualified and all of that obviously leads to poor education in the classroom," said Derek Luyt.

These students will graduate in December. They know the outlook is grim.

"It's a very little chance that many of us can make it," said Dumisani Papi.
 

1 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

2 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

3 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

4 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

5 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

6 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

11 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

12 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

13 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

14 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

15 shacks   

n.窝棚，简陋的小屋( shack的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They live in shacks which they made out of wood. 他们住在用木头搭成的简陋的小屋里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most people in Port au-Prince live in tin shacks. 太子港的大多数居民居住在铁皮棚里。 来自互联网

16 corrugated   

adj.波纹的；缩成皱纹的；波纹面的；波纹状的v.（使某物）起皱褶(corrugate的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• a corrugated iron roof 波纹铁屋顶
• His brow corrugated with the effort of thinking. 他皱着眉头用心地思考。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

18 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。