VOA慢速英語(yǔ):Admission Standards Toughened at University of Liberia

By VOA

04 September, 2013

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

Entrance examinations have been causing problems and confusion at the University of Liberia in Monrovia. The exams help to decide whom the University will accept as a student. The problems begin after an education specialist James Dorbor-Jallah was named to direct and administer the testing.

Recently, about 25,000 high school students took the test but failed. Mr Dorbor-Jallah says, he and his team want to show that a fair, honest examination can be helped. He says some Liberian think they cannot enter the university unless they make a financial gift in return. He said the University has been trying to decide how to oversee the process, so people's abilities would be measured on the basis of their performances on the examination.

Last year, the University of Liberia accepted about 7,000 new students after they took a similar exam. But that test was judged differently. Mr Dorbor-Jallah says the university sought his help because it had problems in the past with entrance exams.

The country's Minister of Education says she does not think that all 25,000 high school students failed the test. Some of the students have held protests at the university. They say they were cheated of the more than 20 dollars required to register for the test.

It appeared that the university would have no first year students until Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf mad with university officials. The officials then said they would lower admission test requirements and accept at least 1,600 people.

President Sirleaf said the school could not be expected to reform it's admission policies so soon after the end of Liberia's second civil war. The fighting ended 10 years ago. He blamed conditions caused by the fighting for what he has called "the mess" in the country's educational system.

Mr Dorbor-Jallah says he promised the university that his team would document the testing process so anyone could get the same results as his team. Mr Dorbor-Jallah says that like earlier tests, the 2013 entrance exam was based on the Ministry of Education curriculum. But he also says that the most recent test results were based on raw scores.

A raw score does not provide any grading assistance like a curve based on the performances of a group of students. He said 308 of the more than 25,000 students did meet 50 percent success in math. But he said no student was able to gain 70 percent in English.

And that's the Education Report from VOA Learning English.

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)教育報(bào)道。

Entrance examinations have been causing problems and confusion at the University of Liberia in Monrovia. The exams help to decide whom the University will accept as a student. The problems begin after an education specialist James Dorbor-Jallah was named to direct and administer the testing.

位于蒙羅維亞市的利比里亞大學(xué)的入學(xué)考試引發(fā)了麻煩和混亂。入學(xué)考試有助于大學(xué)決定錄取誰(shuí)作為學(xué)生。問(wèn)題始于教育專家James Dorbor-Jallah被任命指導(dǎo)和管理這一考試。

Recently, about 25,000 high school students took the test but failed. Mr Dorbor-Jallah says, he and his team want to show that a fair, honest examination can be helped. He says some Liberian think they cannot enter the university unless they make a financial gift in return. He said the University has been trying to decide how to oversee the process, so people's abilities would be measured on the basis of their performances on the examination.

最近有大約2.5萬(wàn)名高中學(xué)生參加了這次考試但都失敗了。Dorbor-Jallah先生表示，他和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)希望表明一項(xiàng)公正、誠(chéng)信的考試會(huì)有所幫助。他說(shuō)，一些利比里亞人認(rèn)為他們不能進(jìn)入大學(xué)除非他們送禮作為回報(bào)。他說(shuō)，該大學(xué)一直試圖確定如何監(jiān)督這一過(guò)程，這樣個(gè)人能力就能基于他們?cè)诳荚囍械谋憩F(xiàn)來(lái)衡量。

Last year, the University of Liberia accepted about 7,000 new students after they took a similar exam. But that test was judged differently. Mr Dorbor-Jallah says the university sought his help because it had problems in the past with entrance exams.

去年，利比里亞大學(xué)在學(xué)生們參加了類似考試后錄取了大約7000名新生。但人們對(duì)那次考試褒貶不一。Dorbor-Jallah先生說(shuō)，因?yàn)樵谶^(guò)去的入學(xué)考試中存在問(wèn)題，利比里亞大學(xué)轉(zhuǎn)而尋求他的幫助。

The country's Minister of Education says she does not think that all 25,000 high school students failed the test. Some of the students have held protests at the university. They say they were cheated of the more than 20 dollars required to register for the test.

利比里亞教育部長(zhǎng)表示，她并不認(rèn)為所有2.5萬(wàn)名高中學(xué)生都沒(méi)考上。一些學(xué)生在利比里亞大學(xué)舉行抗議。他們說(shuō)，他們被騙取了報(bào)名該考試所需的20多美元。

It appeared that the university would have no first year students until Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf mad with university officials. The officials then said they would lower admission test requirements and accept at least 1,600 people.

貌似該大學(xué)不會(huì)有一年級(jí)新生，直到利比里亞總統(tǒng)埃倫·約翰遜·瑟利夫(Ellen Johnson Sirleaf)對(duì)大學(xué)官員大發(fā)雷霆。這些大學(xué)官員隨后表示，他們會(huì)降低入學(xué)考試要求，并錄取至少1600名學(xué)生。

President Sirleaf said the school could not be expected to reform it's admission policies so soon after the end of Liberia's second civil war. The fighting ended 10 years ago. He blamed conditions caused by the fighting for what he has called "the mess" in the country's educational system.

瑟利夫總統(tǒng)說(shuō)，該校不能指望在利比里亞第二次內(nèi)戰(zhàn)結(jié)束后不久就改革其招生政策。這次內(nèi)戰(zhàn)于10年前結(jié)束。他將該國(guó)教育體系的混亂歸咎于這次內(nèi)戰(zhàn)。

Mr Dorbor-Jallah says he promised the university that his team would document the testing process so anyone could get the same results as his team. Mr Dorbor-Jallah says that like earlier tests, the 2013 entrance exam was based on the Ministry of Education curriculum. But he also says that the most recent test results were based on raw scores.

Dorbor Jallah先生說(shuō)，他答應(yīng)利比里亞大學(xué)，他的團(tuán)隊(duì)會(huì)記錄這次考試過(guò)程，這樣任何人都能獲得同他的團(tuán)隊(duì)相同的結(jié)果。Dorbor Jallah先生，和此前的考試一樣，2013年入學(xué)考試是基于教育部課程設(shè)置。但他也表示，最近的這次考試是基于原始分?jǐn)?shù)。

A raw score does not provide any grading assistance like a curve based on the performances of a group of students. He said 308 of the more than 25,000 students did meet 50 percent success in math. But he said no student was able to gain 70 percent in English.

原始分?jǐn)?shù)不像基于一組學(xué)生表現(xiàn)的分?jǐn)?shù)曲線一樣能提供成績(jī)分級(jí)協(xié)助。他說(shuō)，2.5萬(wàn)多名學(xué)生中有308人在數(shù)學(xué)考試中確實(shí)達(dá)到了50%的成績(jī)(正確率)。但沒(méi)有學(xué)生能夠在英語(yǔ)考試中獲得70%的成績(jī)。