Education and race

教育与种族

On the road

在路上

Ethnic minority pupils are storming ahead, thanks partly to tutors

由于家庭教师的原因，少数民族学生总能在学业上拔得头筹
 

IN APRIL Kumon, a Japanese firm, opened a tuition centre in Small Heath, a poor district of Birmingham.

4月，日本公司Kumon在伯明翰市的贫困地区小希思开设了一家讲学中心。

Its lessons are fairly cheap: about pds 55( $88) a month for twice weekly English and maths classes and homework.

它的课程非常便宜：只需大约55英镑（约88美元）就能获得2周英文和数学的课程，还包括了家庭作业。

As in many of Kumon's 680 British outfits, its clients are diverse.

Kumon在英国有680家机构，它们的顾客构成非常丰富。

Many are south Asian; a few are eastern European; none is white and British.

很多都是来自南亚的人，少部分是来自东欧的；而几乎没有白人和英国人。

In much of Europe, pupils from many ethnic minorities linger at the bottom of the heap, says's Chris Hamnett of King College London.

伦敦国王学院的克丽丝 哈姆尼特说，在很多欧洲国家，少数名族学生一般在底层扎堆。

That used to be true in Britain too -- but not any more.

过去在英国也是这样——但现在完全不同了。

Every ethnic minority group that trails white Britons in GCSE exams, normally taken at 16, is catching up.

每一个在普通中等教育证书考试中输给英国白人的少数民族学生通常在他们16岁的时候就能赶上英国人。

Bangladeshis used to perform worse than whites; now they do better.

孟加拉裔过去曾不如白人；但现在他们更加优秀。

Indians have maintained a huge lead.

印度人则一直保持着巨大的领先。

All this despite the fact that ethnic minorities are poorer than average.

所有这些都说明了少数民族学生并不比平均水平差。

Control for that, by looking at pupils who are entitled to free school meals, and all ethnic minority groups now do well.

而且通过观察获得免费校园午餐的学生我们不难看出几乎所有的少数民族学生都表现出色。

But some fare better than others.

但是有些学生的遭遇比其它人更好一些。

One difference is imported social capital: Indians, who were middle class when they arrived in Britain, have lots.

其中一个差异就是外来人员的社会阶级：大部分来到英国的印度人都是中产阶级，他们拥有更多福利。

Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, who often came from rural parts of their homelands, have less.

而孟加拉人和巴基斯坦人则多半是来自农村，他们则明显无法享受那么多福利。

Tenure in Britain matters too.

在英国的居住时间同样有影响。

Newcomers have immigrant aspirations but suffer from not understanding the system.

新来者有强烈的移民愿望但苦于不能理解整个体系。

Better established folk know how things work, but may have lost some of their ambition.

有些人已经较好地了解了事情如何运转，但他们中的很多人已经失去了自己梦想。

A few are in a sweet spot in between.

极少一部分人能够很好地平衡这些问题，让自己处在一个很完美的状态。

Bangladeshis certainly seem to be.

孟加拉人明显就是这种类型。

They arrived in large numbers from the 1970s and are now settled, largely in London.

他们于上世纪70年代大量来到伦敦，而且现在已经站稳了脚跟。

Plenty are still poor: half fall into the lowest income quintile.

他们中的大多数依然很穷：几乎半数人都是收入最低的群体。

But the parents of many children now in school grew up speaking English and attended British schools.

但是很多孩子的父母都开始学习说英语并且开始在英国学校求学。

They not only understand the system but are shaping it.

他们不但理解了整个体系并且在让自己适应这个体系。

In 1987 the Collective of Bangladeshi School Governors was set up in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, where a fifth of's Britain Bangladeshis live.

1987年孟加拉人学校管理者集团在伦敦哈姆雷特镇成立了，在英国五分之一的孟加拉人生活在那。

Shahanur Khan, its chairman, encourages parents to get involved in local schools.

它的主席莎哈雅 可汗鼓励父母们去加入当地的学校。

Parents are increasingly pushy: one mother recently complained to him that her children were not getting enough homework.

父母们越来越有进取心：最近一个月来对他的抱怨就是她孩子的家庭作业不够多。

Somalis arrived much more recently: just 9% of Somali pupils were born in Britain compared with 83% of Bangladeshis.

索马里人则是最近一段时间内较多的移民者：相比于83%的孟加拉学生出生在英国，只有9%的索马里学生是这样的。

And they struggle.

并且他们在抗争。

Many parents came as asylum seekers and speak little English.

很多父母都是为了寻求避难所而来并且几乎不会说英语。

Just one in ten Somalis is in full time work.

只有十分之一的索马里人有全职工作。

But their children are faring better, along with other black Africans.

但是他们的孩子和其它非洲黑人相比表现得优秀得多。

In Lambeth, a borough of London, 61% of Somali pupils got five good GCSEs last year, up from 11% in 2007.

在伦敦市的兰贝斯镇，索马里学生在普通中等教育证书考试中获得了5A成绩的人数从2007年的11%上涨到了去年的61%。

Schools employ Somali teaching assistants to help parents and children with their English.

学校雇佣索马里裔老师去帮助家长和孩子学习英语。

The council organises an awards ceremony for outstanding students.

当地居委会为杰出的学生举办授奖仪式。

And, increasingly, parents pay for extra tuition.

同时的，父母们因为请课外辅导也需要支付额外的学费。

That is another reason black and Asian children are doing better.

那也是黑人和亚洲学生表现更出色的一个原因。

Saturday schools have long been common, but parents are increasingly turning to private tutors.

周末学校课程已经变得很常见，但是父母渐渐得更倾向于私人教师。

In a survey of 11 - to 16-year olds by the Sutton Trust, an education charity, 45% of Asian children said they received some kind of private tuition compared with 20% of white pupils.

一个教育爱心组织萨顿托管会关于11到16岁学生的调查显示，相比20%接受私人辅导的白人学生，45%的亚洲学生有私人教师。

Another study suggests that Somalis are more likely to receive tuition than average, too.

另外一个研究显示，相比平均水平索马里的学生更可能得到私人辅导。

Supply has increased along with demand.

供给也随着需求的上升而上涨。

Karamat Iqbal, director of Forward Partnership, an education consultancy in Birmingham, sees growing numbers of Pakistani graduates, who themselves attended British schools, working as tutors.

伯明翰教育机构前程伙伴的主席卡马特 伊克巴尔表示随着越来越多的巴基斯坦人毕业，他们开始进入英国学校开始作为一个助教工作。

Black Caribbeans, a long established group, are doing better but not dramatically so.

而很早就站稳脚跟的加勒比黑人最近也表现得更加出色了但却不是那么引人注目。

They have mostly lost immigrant zeal: many doubt that education will make much difference to their chances in life, suggests Steve Strand, a professor of education at Oxford University.

牛津大学教授斯蒂文 斯特兰德表示：他们中的大多数已经失去了移民的热情，很多人怀疑教育是否会让他们的人生有更多地机会。

And some teachers may be conflating bad behaviour( last year black Caribbean boys were over four times more likely to be excluded from school than Bangladeshi boys) with a lack of aptitude.

而且一些老师可能将恶劣的行为与缺乏学习天赋混为一谈（去年加勒比黑人男孩是孟加拉男孩4倍的可能性被逐出学校。）

Afro Caribbeans are less likely to be entered into higher tiers for exams where they could obtain the best grades.

加勒比黑人很难去参加那些能取得好成绩的考试。

Job prospects for ethnic minorities are not yet improving commensurately with their school results.

为少数名族学生准备的工作却没有随着他们学校成绩的提高而增多。

Despite their success in exams, Mr Khan worries that Bangladeshi students are choosing" easy" A levels, such as sociology and psychology, which limit their options.

除开他们在考试中的成功不谈，可汗担心孟加拉学生去选择一些容易拿A的科目，例如社会学和心理学，这可能会限制他们将来的发展。

Pakistani pupils in Birmingham are doing better, says Mr Iqbal, but too many are still driving taxis and running corner shops or cheap restaurants.

伊克巴尔表示伯明翰的巴基斯坦学生则做的好一些，但是有太多人依然在开出租车 经营街角商店和低端餐馆。

Still, blacks and especially Asians are edging their way into the professions.

黑人尤其是亚裔人仍然在让他们求职的路上缓慢前行。

Fully 2,087 British Pakistanis started studying law at university in 2011, up from 478 in 2000.

学习法律的巴基斯坦裔的从2000年的478人增加到了2011年的2087人。

Some of those long held ambitions are now being realised.

他们中一些曾有远大理想的人现在也已经实现了。