Weekly Address: To Win the Future, America Must Win the Global Competition in Education
每周电视讲话：为了赢得未来，美国必须从教育上赢得全球化的竞争
WASHINGTON – In this week’s address, President Obama said that the United States needs the best trained and best skilled workforce in the world to win the global competition for new jobs and industries. Over the next ten years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education beyond high school. This is why his administration has made education a top priority, enacting reforms like “Race to the Top,” working to make college more affordable, revitalizing community colleges, and launching a nationwide initiative to connect graduates to the businesses that need their skills.
华盛顿：在本周的讲话中，奥巴马总统称联邦需要世界上训练水平最高的、技术最熟练的劳动力，并以此在新的行业和产业上赢得全球化的竞争。再过十年，几乎一半的新行业需要高中以上的教育水平。这也是为什么当局政府将教育列为头等大事的原因，并制订了“争创一流”等改革措施，促使大学学费更可担负，振兴社区学院，并发起一项全国性的倡议将毕业生与企业职业技能需求进行对接。
I’m speaking to you from just outside Portland, Oregon where I’m visiting Intel, a company that helped pioneer the digital age. I just came from a tour of an assembly line where highly-skilled technicians are building microprocessors that run everything from desktop computers to smartphones.
我在俄勒冈州波特兰市郊向大家发表演说，我正在视察英特尔公司，这是一家开创数字时代的先驱公司。我刚刚从一条生产线上参观下来，那里的高级技术人员正在组装微处理器，这些处理器从桌面电脑到智能手机，随处可见。
But these workers aren’t just manufacturing high-tech computer chips. They’re showing us how America will win the future.
但这些工人并不仅仅是在制造高科技的计算机芯片。他们向我们展示了美国如何赢得未来的方式。
For decades, Intel has led the world in developing new technologies. But even as global competition has intensified, this company has invested, built, and hired in America. Three-quarters of Intel’s products are made by American workers. And as the company expands operations in Oregon and builds a new plant in Arizona, it plans to hire another 4,000 people this year.
几十年来，英特尔一直在开发新技术方面引领全球。但尽管全球竞争越来越激烈，这家公司却持续在美国投资，建厂并雇用人员。英特尔四分之三的产品是由美国工人制造的。随着该公司在俄勒冈州拓展业务并在亚利桑那州建立新的工厂，公司今年还计划招聘4000人。
Companies like Intel are proving that we can compete – that instead of just being a nation that buys what’s made overseas, we can make things in America and sell them around the globe. Winning this competition depends on the ingenuity and creativity of our private sector – which was on display in my visit today. But it’s also going to depend on what we do as a nation to make America the best place on earth to do business.
像英特尔这样的公司向我们证明我们可以赢得竞争——而不仅仅是一个购买海外生产产品的国度，我们可以制造出行销全世界的产品。赢得这一竞争有赖于我们的私营部门发挥聪明才智和创造力——就如同今天我到访的英特尔展示出来的。更进一步也有赖于我们如何将美国打造成为世界上最适宜投资创业的国度。
Over the next ten years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education beyond high school, many requiring proficiency in math and science. And yet today we’ve fallen behind in math, science, and graduation rates. As a result, companies like Intel struggle to hire American workers with the skills that fit their needs.
再过十年，将近一半的新工作岗位需要高中以上的学历，许多都要求精通数学和科学。然而今天，我们在数学、科学以及毕业生比例上都落后了。结果，像英特尔这样的公司都很难招到满足他们技术要求的工人。
If we want to win the global competition for new jobs and industries, we’ve got to win the global competition to educate our people. We’ve got to have the best trained, best skilled workforce in the world. That’s how we’ll ensure that the next Intel, the next Google, or the next Microsoft is created in America, and hires American workers.
如果我们想在新行业新产业上的全球化竞争中胜出，我们就必须在人民教育上赢得全球化竞争。我们必须拥有世界上训练水平最高、技能最熟练的劳动力。这是确保下一个英特尔、谷歌或是微软在美国创立并雇用美国劳动者的途径。
This is why, over the past two years, my administration has made education a top priority. We’ve launched a competition called “Race to the Top” – a reform that is lifting academic standards and getting results; not because Washington dictated the answers, but because states and local schools pursued innovative solutions. We’re also making college more affordable for millions of students, and revitalizing our community colleges, so that folks can get the training they need for the careers they want. And as part of this effort, we’ve launched a nationwide initiative to connect graduates that need jobs with businesses that need their skills.
过去两年里，我领导的政府将教育列为头等大事，原因就在于此。我们启动了一项称之为“争创一流”的竞赛计划——该项计划提高了学术水平并正在显现成效；并不是因为华盛顿发号施令，而是因为各州和当地学校都在主动寻求创新方式。我们还让数百万学生更加负担得起大学学费，重振我们的社区学院，这样人们便可以获得他们期望的职业所需的技能培训。作为这些努力的一部分，我们发起了一项全国性倡议，将毕业生的就业需求与企业的技能要求进行对接。
Intel understands how important these partnerships can be – recognizing that their company’s success depends on a pipeline of skilled people ready to fill high-wage, high-tech jobs. Intel often pays for workers to continue their education at nearby Portland State University. As a result, one out of every fifteen of Intel’s Oregon employees has a degree from Portland State.
英特尔深知这些伙伴的重要性——他们认识到企业的成功来有赖于为高薪高技术的岗位做好准备的技术人才通道。英特尔经常资助员工在附近的波特兰州立大学深造。因此，英特尔在俄勒冈州的雇员里，每十五个中就有一个拥有波特兰州立大学学位。
In fact, Intel’s commitment to education begins at an even younger age. The company is providing training to help 100,000 math and science teachers improve their skills in the classroom. And today, I’m also meeting a few students from Oregon who impressed the judges in the high school science and engineering competitions that Intel sponsors across America.
实际上，英特尔在她还很年轻的时候就有了对教育的承诺。该公司正在为培训10万名数学和科学教师提供资助，以帮助他们提高教学水平。今天，我也会见了部分来自俄勒冈的学生，他们在英特尔在全国出资发起的高中科技竞赛中深深打动了评委。
One young woman, Laurie Rumker, conducted a chemistry experiment to investigate ways to protect our water from pollution. Another student, named Yushi Wang, applied the principles of quantum physics to design a faster computer chip. We’re talking about high school students.
有一位年轻女士，叫劳里·鲁姆克，开展了一项化学实验来寻求保护水资源避免污染的方法。另一位学生，叫王雨诗，申请了量子物理理论专业，她设计了一款更快的计算机芯片。要知道他们还仅仅只是高中生。
So these have been a tough few years for our country. And in tough times, it’s natural to question what the future holds. But when you meet young people like Laurie and Yushi, it’s hard not to be inspired. And it’s impossible not to be confident about America.
这几年对我们国家来说是比较艰难的。在艰难时期，发出未来我们拥有什么这样的问题很自然。但当你遇到像劳里和雨诗这样的年轻人的时候，你很难不被打动。你也不可能不对美国满怀信心。
We are poised to lead in this new century – and not just because of the good work that large companies like Intel are doing. All across America, there are innovators and entrepreneurs who are trying to start the next Intel, or just get a small business of their own off the ground. I’ll be meeting with some of these men and women next week in Cleveland, to get ideas about what we can do to help their companies grow and create jobs.
我们定将引领这个新世纪——不仅仅是因为有英特尔这样的大公司所做的出色工作。在美国各地，我们有大量发明家和企业家，他们正努力开创下一个英特尔，或让他们的小企业成功起飞。下周我将与他们中的一些人在克里夫兰会面，找到一些我们如何可以帮助他们的公司成长并创造就业的点子。
The truth is, we have everything we need to compete: bold entrepreneurs, bright new ideas, and world-class colleges and universities. And, most of all, we have young people just brimming with promise and ready to help us succeed. All we have to do is tap that potential.
事实是，我们拥有参与竞争所需要的所有的东西：大胆的企业家，新鲜而有前景的创意以及世界一流的大学高校。而且更重要的是，我们拥有充满希望并已准备好让我们成功的年轻人们。我们所需要做的就是发掘他们的潜能。
That’s the lesson on display at Intel. And that’s how America will win the future.
这就是在英特尔为我们展示的经验。这也是美国赢得未来的途径。
Thank you.
谢谢大家。 |