BBC Take Away English (Megatrend

不断变化的教育国际趋势正在影响和改变着各国的教育系统。新趋势给面向国际招生的学校带来了哪些问题？经济合作与发展组织（OECD）经济智库发布的一份研究报告对未来教育发展方向提出了几个重要的问题。本集Take Away English就此讨论全球教育的发展趋势及其面临的挑战。

megatrends in education---from BBC
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article

We all know the importance of education. Everyone aspires to have a good one, but its quality and availability is not the same for all. This situation changes as social, economic and political conditions change and technological development provides new benefits and threats.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which promotes policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world, has been looking at the future of global education. Its head of education, Andreas Schleicher, has been talking to the BBC about some major international trends affecting education systems around the world.

One threat is the widening gap between rich and poor, with more intense pockets of extreme privilege and deprivation. In OECD countries, the richest 10% have incomes 10 times greater than the poorest 10%. This inequality is a challenge for schools who want to offer equal and fair access to education for everyone.

Another trend is the rising affluence in Asia. It's suggested that a large rise in the middle-classes in China and India will increase demand for university places. Andreas Schleicher asks the question "What values will these newly wealthy consumers want from their schools?"

Increasing migration will also have an impact on education systems. Mobility results in more culturally diverse students eager to learn and develop a good life for themselves. But that can be a challenge, too, as Andreas Schleicher asks: "How should schools support pupils arriving from around the world? What questions does it raise about identity and integration? Will schools have a bigger role in teaching about shared values?"

Funding pressure is another issue: as our demand and expectation for education rises and more people go to university, who's going to pay for it all? The rise in dependency on technology is another concern. What should students learn when many of their talents can be replicated by machines? And how reliant should we be on learning from the internet?

These are just some of the issues the OECD is highlighting. But they remain irrelevant for hundreds of millions of the world's poorest children who don't even have access to school places or receive such low-quality education that they leave without the most basic literacy or numeracy.

vocabulary

aspire 渴望，向往
social 社会的
well-being 幸福，安康
the widening gap between... and... 越来越大的代沟，差距
privilege 特权
deprivation 贫困，匮乏
inequality 不均等
offer equal and fair access to 提供公平的途径
have access to 有...的途径
affluence 富裕，富足
values 价值观
consumer 消费者
migration 移居
have an impact on 对...产生影响
mobility （社会）流动性
identity 身份
integration （不同群体的）融合
funding 资助
dependency 依赖
be replicated by 被...复制
highlight v. 强调
literacy 识字能力
numeracy 算数能力

make sentences

1. Jake assumes he's going to Cambridge because he's from a privileged background – I'm not so sure!

2. Unemployment and poor health are some of the social problems that the government are trying to put an end to（结束）.

3. My elderly mother is very dependent on me – I have to do everything for her.

4. To improve my well-being, I go for a run on the beach every day.

5. Since he started at his new school, he's done really well to integrate with the rest of the class.

question

Why is there likely to be a rise in demand for university places globally?

answer

It's suggested that a large rise in the middle-class in China and India will put an increase in demand for university places.

@BBC Learning English