中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 Admissions day: Secondary school pupils will find out on Tuesday where they will go to school in September. |
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Thousands of schoolchildren are having their education decided by a 'roll of the dice' as councils use a controversial selection practice in a bid to ensure the best schools are more comprehensive in make-up. The practice of fair banding - in which a percentage of lower ability children are chosen for the better schools - or even a straight lottery system are being used by schools in more than a third of councils. The news comes as parents prepare for 'admissions day' on Tuesday, when more than half a million children in England will find out which secondary school they will attend in September. Competition for school places is fierce in some urban areas with the William Hulme Grammar Academy in Manchester sifting through 433 applicants for just 120 places. The number of schools using 'fair banding' or lotteries has risen from one in four in 2009, to one in three in the latest survey, carried out in the fifth year that the options have been available to schools. Education Secretary Michael Gove has pushed the 'fair banding' admissions policy but it has been criticised by education bodies as 'social engineering'. Families have attacked the policy because they say it penalises middle class families for the sake of political correctness and lowers property values close to good schools if residents aren't guaranteed entry to those local schools. According to a survey conducted by the Daily Telegraph one in nine children are expected to miss out on their preferred school - around 60,000 pupils - while in some areas the figure rises as high as 40 per cent. In the survey of 110 councils in England with responsibility for education, 27 used lotteries to decide pupil places, while 21 used 'fair banding'. Some schools used both policies, meaning that the practices were used in 38 of the 110 schools - more than a third. Schools which use fair banding, such as the William Hulme Grammar Academy, defend the practice, saying it ensures 'a completely comprehensive intake with children of all abilities and from all ethnic backgrounds.' (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
為了確保最好的學校在學生構成方面更有包容性，英國一些地方行政區采取了一個極具爭議性的選拔方式——通過“擲骰子”來決定學生能否被錄取。 英國超過三分之一的地方行政區內的學校采用“公平分班”甚至搖號的方式錄取學生，前者使得一部分能力較低的學生進入好學校。 這則新聞發布的時候，家長們正在為周二的“錄取日”做準備，在這天英國超過五十萬的孩子將獲知他們9月份將就讀于哪所初中。 在一些市區，入學競爭異常激烈，例如曼徹斯特市威廉休姆語法學校收到了433份入學申請，而學校招生計劃僅為120人。 最新的調查顯示，通過“公平分班”或者搖號來錄取學生的學校的比例已經從2009年的四分之一升到現在的三分之一。今年是學校施行上述兩種選拔方式的第五年。 教育大臣邁克爾?戈夫促進了“公平分班”招生政策的推廣，但是各教育團體批評這項政策是一項“社會工程”。 家長們攻擊這項政策的原因是他們認為該政策為了政治正確性而犧牲了中產階級家庭的利益，同時，該政策還拉低了靠近好學校的“學區房”的房產價值，鑒于“學區房”也并不能保證孩子能就讀附近的好學校。 《每日電訊報》進行的一項調查顯示，平均九分之一的學生——約6萬名學生——將無法進入首選初中，有些地方這一比例高達40%。 共有110個負責教育的地方行政區參與了調查，其中，選擇搖號招生的行政區為27個，選擇“公平分班”的為21個。 一些學校同時采用以上兩種方式，這說明110個學校里有38個采用這兩種招生方式，超過了三分之一。 采用“公平分班”錄取方式的學校（比如威廉休姆語法學校）辯解說，這種招生方式“能確保不同種族背景、不同能力的孩子都能被錄取，使學校更具包容性。” 相關閱讀 （中國日報網英語點津 崔旭燕 編輯：陳丹妮） |
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Vocabulary: band: to be organized into bands of price, income, etc. （將價格、收入等）劃分檔次，分等級 penalise: to put somebody at a disadvantage by treating them unfairly（置于不利地位；不公正地對待） intake: the number of people who are allowed to enter a school, college, profession, etc. during a particular period （一定時期內）納入的人數 |
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