特蕾莎·梅 | 英国高校教育大整改

Now, I took my very first steps into elected politics as a local councillor in south London. For two years, I was the chairman of the education authority in Merton.

我人生第一次涉足民选政治是当选伦敦南部的地方议员。整整两年的时间，我担任默顿教育管理局主席。

It was an experience I will never forget because I saw how vital good schools and colleges are to a community; how the hopes and aspirations which parents have for their children and which young people have for their futures are bound-up with the quality of education on offer.

这段经历我永远不会忘怀，因为我深刻体会到：优良的中小学和大学教育对社会来说是多么重要。家长对子女寄予的希望与期盼，以及年轻人对自己未来的期望，都与我们提供的教育质量密切相关。

A lot has changed in the last 20 years, but that core principle that the needs of every child and every young person deserve to be met still drives my vision of the education system our country needs. And the need for such a system has never been greater.

过去这20年来发生了巨大变化，但我们的核心原则，即：每个孩子和青年的需求都应得到满足。这个原则依然激励着我实现英国所需的教育系统这一愿景。我们对这种教育系统的需求从未如此强烈。

And if we consider the experience which many young people have of our system as it is today, it’s clear that we don’t have such a system today.

考虑到在当前的教育系统下，许多英国年轻人接受教育的经历，很显然，我们现在并没有这样的教育系统。

Now, imagine two children currently in secondary school and thinking about their futures. One is a working class boy from here in Derby. He aspires to a career as a lawyer, but he doesn’t have a social network to draw on with any links to the profession, and he doesn’t know if someone like him can make it. The road he will have to take to achieve his dream is much more challenging than the one his counterpart who is privately educated will face.

不如试想一下，有这样两位英国中学生，他们正在思考自己的未来。一位是来自德比郡工人阶层家庭的男孩。他渴望成为一名律师，可是他并没有什么社会关系网络能让自己轻松踏入这一行业。他不知道像他这样的孩子能否取得成功。跟那些就读私立学校的小伙伴比起来，他要想实现自己的梦想就必须走上一条更艰难、更具挑战性的道路。

Almost a quarter of the students at our research-intensive universities come from the 7% of the population who go to private school. And the professions which draw their recruits primarily from these institutions remain unrepresentative of the country as a whole, skewed in favour of a particular social class. For the boy from a working-class home here in Derby, the odds are stacked against him. And as a country, we all lose out when we do not make the most of everyone’s talents and ability.

在英国的研究型大学里，有近4分之1的学生都曾就读于私立学校，而能够就读私立学校的人仅仅占全国总人口的7%。而且绝大多数的职业岗位都会选择从这些大学里招人。如此偏向于某一特定的社会阶层，根本不能真实反映和代表我们整个国家。对这个来自德比郡工人阶级家庭的男孩来说，成功的机会十分渺茫。作为一个国家，如果不能充分利用每个人的天赋和能力，我们便会满盘皆输。

And now imagine a second child. She is a girl from a middle-class background, who is privately educated. Her dream is to be a software developer, and she wishes she could go straight into the industry. But she faces another set of pressures, which tell her that studying academic A-levels and making a UCAS application to a Russell group university is what the world expects of her. 

再来看第二个孩子。她是一位中产阶级出身的女孩，在私立学校就读。她的梦想是成为一名软件开发员，她希望自己可以直接迈入这一行业。可是她却面临着另一种压力：一直有人叮嘱她必须读完高中学术课程之后便申请罗素大学集团的一流高校。这就是全世界对她的期盼。

The idea that there might be another path just as promising and better suited to her individual hopes and dreams simply doesn’t occur. In each case, the system is not working for the individual or for our country.

然而，或许还有另外一条道路也会同样有前途，甚至会更满足她的个人期许和梦想，可惜这条路却无法实现。在这两个案例中，我们现在的教育体制并不适用于这两个孩子，也不适用于我们国家。

Most politicians, most journalists, most political commentators took the academic route themselves, and will expect their children to do the same. And there remains a perception that going to university is really the only desirable route, while going into training is something for other people’s children.

绝大多数的政客、记者和政治评论员，他们走的都是学术之路，因而也盼着自己的孩子走上他们的旧路。一直以来都有这种惯性思维：“只有上大学才是唯一的出路。让别人家的孩子去读那种职业技能学习吧。”

If we are going to succeed in building a fairer society and a stronger economy, we need to throw away this outdated attitude for good and create a system of tertiary education that works for all our young people.

我们要想建立一个更公平的社会和更强大的经济，就必须完全摒弃这种过时的态度，并建立一种适合所有年轻人的高等教育制度。

That means equality of access to an academic university education which is not dependent on your background, and it means a much greater focus on the technical alternatives, too.

这就意味着，不论你的家庭背景或出身条件，所有人接受大学教育的机会平等。同时也意味着我们要更加关注职业技术教育。

The latest annual figures show that fewer than 16,000 people completed higher qualifications through the further education system. That is compared to almost 350,000 undergraduate degrees which were awarded last year.

去年最新数据显示，通过进修和继续教育，而获得高等教育文凭的不到1.6万人。相比之下去年颁发授予的学士学位高达35万个。

This imbalance has an economic cost, with some businesses finding it hard to recruit the skilled workers they need.

这种不平衡让我们付出了经济代价：很多企业表示，要想招聘到所需的技术工人十分困难。

But it also has a social cost in wasted human potential, which we too often ignore.

同时我们也付出了社会代价：浪费了大量有潜力的人才，这点常常被我们忽略。

So now is the time to take action to create a system that is flexible enough to ensure that everyone gets the education that suits them. And that’s what the review which I am launching today sets out to deliver.

如今，是时候采取行动，建立一个足够灵活的教育体系，以确保每个人都能获得适合自己的教育模式。这就是我今天宣布进行公开审查，最终要实现的目标。

Our universities are world-leaders and jewels in Britain’s crown. 16 British universities are in the world’s top 100, and four are in the top ten.

我们的大学当属世界一流、堪称英国教育系统皇冠上的明珠。16所英国大学在全世界排名前100,4所英国大学跻身前10强。

The competitive market between universities which the system of variable tuition fees envisaged has simply not emerged.

可是，当前按不同标准收学费的政策却并未如此前预想的那般在英国各大学之间产生良性竞争市场。

All but a handful of universities charge the maximum possible fees for undergraduate courses. Three-year courses remain the norm.

除了极少数几所大学外，其他所有大学都对本科课程极尽可能地收取最高额的费用。3年本科教育课程仍是常态。

And the level of fees charged do not relate to the cost or quality of the course. So we now have one of the most expensive systems of university tuition in the world.

收费水平与课程的教育成本或教学质量并不成正比。目前，英国的学费制度是全世界最昂贵的大学学费制度之一。

The review will now look at the whole question of how students and graduates contribute to the cost of their studies, including the level, terms and duration of their contribution.

在读学生和毕业生究竟该如何分担学费，其中包括学费支付能力、供款条件和还款期限。

Our goal is a funding system which provides value for money for graduates and taxpayers, so the principle that students as well as taxpayers should contribute to the cost of their studies is an important one.

我们的目标是建立一个资助体系，为毕业生和纳税人提供物有所值的回报。因此，有一项基本原则非常重要，大学生和纳税人都应该承担自身的学费。

I believe – as do most people, including students – that those who benefit directly from higher education should contribute directly towards the cost of it. That’s only fair.

我相信，包括学生在内的大多数人都明白：所有直接受益于高等教育的人都应该直接为高等教育的成本做出贡献。这才叫公平。

So by focusing on these four key priorities, making tertiary education accessible to all, promoting choice and competition in the sector, delivering the skills our economy needs, and getting value for money for students and taxpayers, we can give every young person access to an education that suits their skills and aspirations – one which opens up possibilities for their future and helps them into a rewarding career.

因此，通过集中处理这四个重点问题：一、让所有人都有机会接受高等教育；二、促进高等教育领域的选择和竞争；三、提供经济发展所需的职业技能培训；四、为学生和纳税人带来物有所值的效益。这样才能让每个年轻人获得的教育都能符合自己一技之长，并最终实现理想，为他们的未来打开所有可能性，并帮助他们在职业领域获得巨大成功。

Almost thirty years ago, when I was in charge of that local education authority, an incoming Conservative Prime Minister, who, like me, went to a state school said that the great task of the coming decade should be to ‘make the whole of this country a genuinely classless society’.

大约30年前，那时的我是地方教育机构负责人。当时即将走马上任的首相也来自保守党，他和我一样都就读于公立学校。他表示，在未来10年内的重要任务应该是：“让整个英国社会不再存在社会阶层的差距。”

Eighteen months ago, when I became Prime Minister, I spoke of my desire to make Britain a Great Meritocracy. Today, our ambition for the Britain we will build outside the EU must be just as great. And it must be matched with a determination to turn that ambition into reality.

18个月前，我成为英国首相，并表达了让英国成为任人唯贤的伟大精英政治的愿望。如今，我们要在欧盟之外打造一个新英国的雄心壮志也是同样伟大。而这也要求我们必须拥有坚定的决心将我们的雄心壮志变成现实。

We need to make Britain a country where everyone can go as far as their talents will take them and no one is held back by their background or class; where education is the key to opening up opportunity for everyone. 

我们要让英国成为这样的一个国家：任何人都能利用自身才华和禀赋来实现自我、走向更远。不再有人会因为背景或阶层而遭到阻碍。要为所有人开启平等机遇，教育就是重中之重。

The vision I have for the Britain we will build is of a country which is fit for the future, delivered through bold social and economic reform.

而我对于未来英国的愿景是要通过大胆的社会和经济改革来打造一个适合未来社会的国家。

If we get it right, we can build a country that truly works for everyone.

只有我们正确履行，才能建立一个真正服务于每个人的国家。

A country where your background does not define your future, and class distinctions are a thing of the past. Where a boy from a working-class home can become a High Court judge, thanks to a great state education. And where a girl from a private school can start a software business, thanks to a first-class technical education.

在这个国家里，你的未来成就不再由你的家庭背景来决定，阶级差异早已成为过去时。来自工人阶级家庭的男孩也可以成为高等法院法官，因为他接受过良好的公立教育。就读于私立学校的女孩也可以从事软件开发工作，因为她接受过一流的职业技术教育。

That’s my vision for a fairer society and how we will deliver it. A society where good, rewarding work is available for everyone. An economy with the skills it needs to succeed. Britain as the Great Meritocracy, a country that respects hard work, rewards effort and industry, where a happy and fulfilled life is within everyone’s grasp.

这就是我的愿景：建立一个更公平的社会，以及如何贯彻实现它。这个公平的社会将为每个人提供优质又有回报的工作。我们的经济拥有成功发展所需的所有技能。英国是伟大的精英主义国家，也是尊重辛劳工作、赞赏努力、勤勉的国家。在这个国家里，享受快乐而充实的生活尽在我们每个人的掌握中。

Thank you.

谢谢。