在馬拉威的一所小學，上課時間一到，許多小學生沒有進到教室，反而先來到校長室門口。原來，他們是在「借課本」。
馬拉威的小學提供免費義務教育，但是貧窮的家庭仍然面對許多壓力，如制服、書包，甚至連考試卷影印費也要自己支付。其中，課本也是一大負擔。馬拉威小學課本一本要價約新台幣150元，差不多是當地一個月工資的八分之一。
有些小朋友揹著空書包上學，跟學校借公用課本，下課後要歸還，回家便無法複習。而公用課本也會有耗損，校方需要不斷補充，才能夠繼續借給孩子們。即便必須用借來的課本，馬拉威的孩子卻仍相當珍惜上學的機會呢！
When class starts in an elementary school in Malawi, many students don’t enter the classroom. They go to the principal’s office instead. It turns out they need to “borrow textbooks.”
Malawi’s elementary schools provide free compulsory education. But poor families still face the pressure of paying for uniforms, bags, even for photocopying their own exam papers. Among these costs, the textbook is a big burden, too. In Malawi, one elementary school textbook costs about NT$150. It’s almost an eighth of a month’s wages.
Some children carry empty bags to school and use the public books. When the class is over, they must return the books. This means the students can’t review at home. Also, the public textbooks suffer a lot of wear and tear. The school needs to replace old books constantly so that the children can continue to borrow them. Even though they have to use borrowed textbooks, Malawian children still cherish the opportunity to go to school!
精選單字與詞彙
- principal (n.) 校長
- uniform (n.) 制服
- burden (n.) 負擔
- review (v.) 復習
- wear and tear 損耗；磨損
- cherish (v.) 珍惜
實用句型
It turns out… 原來…；結果是…
A: I overslept. What should I do?
我睡過頭了，該怎麼辦？
B: Don’t worry. It turns out the teacher is sick, so the class is canceled today.
別擔心。原來老師生病了，所以今天停課。
圖．文／畢嘉士基金會
英文翻譯／Sean O’Sullivan & TOEIC900工作團隊