背景知识
Ofsted
英国教育标准局，是英国国家教育、儿童服务和技能培训机构的官方监管机构。其主要职能是对所有公立学校，以及一小部分私立学校的教育质量进行定期审查。Ofsted的总评定分为4个等级，分别是：Outstanding（杰出）；Good（优秀）；Satisfactory（合格）；Inadequate（不合格）。去年11月，英国一所小学的校长露丝·佩里被告知，她所在的学校从“杰出”降级为“不合格”，她称这是“她一生中最糟糕的一天”。今年1月，她自杀身亡。
脉络梳理
【Para. 1】 介绍英国教育行业面临的困境：教师严重短缺
【Para. 2-3】 分析原因之一：教师工资水平低，与其他岗位的工资差距大；建议全面加薪
【Para. 4】 分析原因之二：英国教育标准局让教师压力过大；建议用更细致的指标范围取代当前的评级系统
【Para. 5】 总结全文，强调要解决教育行业的危机必须改进教育标准局的评级系统，并提高教师工资
双语阅读
正文字数：568 Words
Para. 1
Do more with less. This has been the government’s expectation of every public sector employee since 2010. In education, this has led to stagnant wages and unsustainable workloads, compounded by a punitive Ofsted inspection process that heaps stress upon teachers and can condemn a school to failure in a single sentence. Many are leaving the profession: vacancies in England have almost doubled since the pandemic, according to a recent report. As a result, teachers are being forced to teach more classes outside their specialism. The risk is a creeping deprofessionalisation of the sector that will have a negative impact on learning.
少拿钱多干活，这是英国政府自2010年以来对每一位公共部门员工的期望。在教育领域，这导致了工资增长停滞，工作量难以承受，英国教育标准局的惩罚性检查程序更是雪上加霜，这一程序给教师施加了巨大的压力，一句话就能宣告一所学校失败。许多人正在离开教育行业：根据最近的一份报告，自疫情以来，英国的教职空缺几乎翻了一番。因此，教师们被迫教授更多本专业以外的课程。风险在于，教育行业的去职业化正在悄然发生，这将对学生的学习产生负面影响。
Para. 2
This crisis has been building for years. Austerity has led to fewer support staff, leaving teachers to cope with a rising tide of mental health and social issues. Meanwhile, a succession of below-inflation pay rises over the last decade means teacher earnings have fallen by 13% in real terms since 2010. It is not just absolute pay that is forcing teachers to leave or dissuading people from applying, but the growing gap between teacher pay and salaries in other graduate professions. This is particularly acute in secondary schools, which have struggled to recruit maths and science graduates who can get better-paid jobs elsewhere.
这场危机已经酝酿多年。财政紧缩导致学校里的支持人员减少，教师不得不应对日益增多的心理健康和社会问题。与此同时，在过去十年中，教师的工资增长持续低于通货膨胀率，这意味着自2010年以来，教师的实际收入下降了13%。迫使教师离开或使人们不愿申请教师岗位的原因不仅仅是绝对的工资水平，还有教师与其他毕业生岗位之间日益扩大的工资差距。这种情况在中学尤为严重，学校一直很难招到数学和科学专业的毕业生，因为他们可以在其他地方找到薪水更高的工作。
Para. 3
The obvious way to make the profession more attractive, both to potential and existing teachers, is raising pay. The government has tried to square the circle by targeting incentives towards early-career teachers. It has introduced more generous bursaries for trainees and committed to raising starting salaries in England to £30,000 by next year. Though early-career funding will help with recruitment, it has no impact on the deteriorating pay of experienced teachers, for whom the Department for Education has proposed a meagre 3% increase to be taken out of the existing schools budget. A government ideologically opposed to public sector pay rises may find it easier to countenance targeted payments, but if ministers are serious about retaining teachers, higher salaries are needed across the board. They should take note of the 8% fully funded rise agreed in Wales, and provide a more generous offer in England.
显而易见，让教师这个职业对潜在的和现有的教师都更有吸引力的方法就是提高工资。政府试图通过为初入职场的教师提供激励来解决这个问题。政府为实习教师提供了更丰厚的奖学金，并承诺到明年将英格兰的教师起薪提高到3万英镑。虽然入职资助将对招聘新教师有帮助，但对经验丰富的教师越来越差的工资却没有任何影响，教育部提议从现有的学校预算中拿钱给在职教师涨工资，只涨微不足道的3%。一个在思想上反对给公共部门加薪的政府更有可能支持有针对性的加薪，但如果部长们真的想留住教师，就需要全面提高教师工资。他们应该注意到威尔士已经同意全面加薪8%，也该在英格兰给出更大方的薪资。
Para. 4
A bad Ofsted inspection can make recruiting teachers even more tricky. The result is a vicious spiral: schools that have a series of below-good Ofsted grades tend to have higher teacher turnover, which in turn makes it more difficult for school leaders to turn standards around. Disadvantaged schools suffer the most, leaving the remaining teachers to take on classes outside their specialism. Only 15% of physics teachers in disadvantaged schools outside London have a physics degree, for example. Unsurprisingly, teachers live in fear of a bad Ofsted inspection. One solution would be replacing the current system of ratings with a more nuanced range of indicators, providing parents with information without penalising schools.
英国教育标准局一次糟糕的检查会让教师招聘变得更加棘手。结果是一个恶性循环：连续被教育标准局评为“优秀”以下等级的学校往往教师流失率更高，这反过来又使学校领导更难提升学校等级。贫困学校受到的影响最大，余下的教师只能承担他们本专业之外的课程。例如，在伦敦以外的贫困学校中，只有15%的物理教师有物理学位。教师们生活在对教育标准局糟糕检查的恐惧中也就不足为奇。一个解决方案是用更细致的指标范围取代当前的评级系统，在不惩罚学校的情况下为家长提供信息。
Para. 5
The recent death of the headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life while awaiting the results of an inspection that downgraded her school, has revealed the cruelty of this regime. In response, Michael Gove has insisted Ofsted plays a “vital role”, despite his decision in 2012 to exempt schools like Perry’s, which was previously rated “outstanding”, from routine inspections. The stress of Ofsted inspections has also been cited as a factor in the deaths of other teachers. Across the sector, burnout is widespread. Ministers should heed teachers’ warnings over the problems that Ofsted creates, and accept that unless salaries are improved, schools will continue to struggle.
最近，校长露丝·佩里在等待给她学校降级的检查结果时自杀身亡，这揭示了这种评级制度的残酷性。作为回应，前教育大臣迈克尔·戈夫坚称教育标准局发挥着“至关重要的作用”，尽管他在2012年决定免除对佩里所在的这类过去被评为“杰出”学校的检查。英国教育标准局检查的压力也被认为是其他教师死亡的一个因素。在整个教育行业，过劳现象普遍存在。部长们应该听取教师针对教育标准局造成的问题的警告，并接受这个事实：除非提高教师工资，否则学校将难以为继。
词汇积累
stagnant [ˈstæɡnənt] adj. 停滞的，不发展的；（水或空气）不流动而污浊的
heap [hiːp] v. 堆积，堆放；大加赞扬（或批评等） n. 堆；大量，许多
specialism [ˈspeʃəlɪzəm] n. 专业，专长；专业化
creeping [ˈkriːpɪŋ] adj. 悄悄发生的，慢得令人注意不到的
austerity [ɔːˈsterəti] n. （经济的）紧缩；艰苦，朴素
bursary [ˈbɜːrsəri] n. 奖学金
deteriorate [dɪˈtɪriəreɪt] v. 变坏，恶化
meagre [ˈmiːɡər] adj. 数量很少的，微薄的，不足的
countenance [ˈkaʊntənəns] v. 支持，赞成 n. 面容，表情
nuanced [ˈnuːɑːnst] adj. 细致入微的
regime [reɪˈʒiːm] n. 管理制度，组织方法；政权
exempt [ɪɡˈzempt] v. 免除，豁免 adj. 免除的，豁免的
burnout [ˈbɜːrnaʊt] n. 精疲力竭，过度劳累
heed [hiːd] v. 留心，注意
固定搭配
a succession of 连续不断的
in real terms 实际，按实价
square the circle 尝试做不可能的事，化圆为方
vicious spiral 恶性循环
turn sth. around （使）复苏，（使）好转；调转方向
