英联邦高校入学人数增加，名校退学率仍高达25%

作者: 雅思小伦哥在这里 | 来源:发表于2019-06-26 22:13 被阅读0次

More students are going to university than before, but those at risk of dropping lout need more help

英联邦高校入学人数增加，名校退学率仍高达25%

Enrolments to Australian public universities boomed during the last decade. This was due to a government policy known as “demand driven funding”, which between 2012 and 2017 allowed universities to enrol unlimited numbers of domestic bachelor-degree students. On the Productivity Commission’s analysis, a clear majority of additional students did get benefits. Most of them (68 percent) completed a course, while 59 percent found the professional or managerial work to which university students typically aspire. But additional students also faced an elevated risk, compared to other students, of not getting the hoped-for outcomes.

在过去的10年里，澳大利亚公立大学的入学人数迅速攀升。这一现象得益于一项名为“需求导向资金”（Demand Driven Funding）的政府策略，此政策在2012年到2017年期间，允许大学不限数量地录取国内本科学生。澳大利亚生产委员会（Productivity Commission）的分析显示，大部分额外录取的学生确实从中受益。大多数学生（68%）顺利完成课程，59%的学生毕业后从事了大学生们梦寐以求的专业工作或管理工作。但是，与其他学生相比，额外招收的学生也面临着更严峻的风险，他们可能会收获不到自己预期的成果。

Although that greater risk is not surprising, we should do what we can to reduce it. The Productivity Commission’s report observes improved school achievement would make a difference to poor outcomes, such as university drop out rates. This is because, on its analysis, weaker academic preparation is the source of much – but not all – of the participation and achievement gap between student groups.

虽然风险更大也不足为奇，但是我们应该尽可能降低它。生产委员会的报告观察到，提高学业成绩可以有效避免不良的结果，比如大学退学率。根据分析，这是因为在很大程度上（并非绝对），学业准备的不足是不同学生群体间在准备和学业上产生差距的根源。

But the Commission also acknowledges improving school achievement is not easy. It has been the generally unsuccessful goal of schools policy for a long time. There are other, easier, ways to manage student risk, which can be done quickly, and would provide immediate benefits.

但委员会也承认提高学业成绩并不容易。这是学校政策长期以来没有攻克的难题。其实想要把控风险是有其他办法的，而且更容易更迅速，立刻就能见效。

Diverting students with weaker academic backgrounds to preparatory courses before starting a bachelor degree can help. These courses were omitted from the demand driven system and either had capped student numbers or high fees. They should be made more accessible.

让学术能力较弱的学生在本科课程开始之前去上预备课程班，是很有帮助的。这些课程是被需求导向系统省略的，它们要么学生人数有上限要么学费较高。这些课程应该让更多人有机会接触到。

We can also give students better advice on the practicalities of study. Studying part-time creates a high risk of not completing a course. If students were aware how high that risk was – less than 30 percent of bachelor-degree students who continuously study part-time finish a course – they might find a way to enrol full-time, or decide to do something else.

When study plans aren’t working out, we can do more to protect students from unnecessary costs and debt. The report suggests course counselling so that students “fail fast, fail cheap”. But we can also act before students fail.

我们也可以在学习的实际问题上给予学生更多建议。学习非全日制课程是更有可能完不成学业的，仅有不到30%的非全日制本科学生完成了他们的课程。如果学生知道这个比率到底有多高，他们可能会选择报名全日制课程，或者干脆做点其他事情。

当学习计划不奏效时，为了努力保护学生，避免不必要的花销和债务，我们能做的有很多。报告推荐做课程咨询，如此一来，学生就能“更快、更便宜地买到教训”。不过，我们也可以在学生失败前就采取行动。

需求导向基金（Demand Driven Funding）是澳大利亚联邦政府从2012年开始推出的教育新政。该政策取代了原来的供给导向系统（Supply Driven System），提高了公立大学的招生限额，以回应更多学生对于高等教育的需求。政策实行至今有利有弊。一方面，需求导向基金让更多贫困学生、偏远地区学生和原住民等有机会接受高等教育，学生背景更加多样化。另一方面，学校也面临教学质量受影响，学生失业率增加等问题。