Cost of education can ruin parents

中国父母迫切想要送子女出国深造的情况已存在几十年了.如今,家长认为出国留学能让孩子在竞争激烈的国内就业市场占据优势,因此,这种情况愈演愈烈.

The desire to send offspring to schools overseas has existed for decades in China, although today it is largely fueled by the belief that it gives youngsters an advantage in the tough domestic employment market.

然而,只有少数家庭有足够的积蓄来支付外国学校高昂的学费、住宿费及生活费.这导致很多家长会选择在自己人生的关键时刻背负高额债务.此类的留学投资通常都会产生社会学家所谓的"新城市贫民".

However, not many Chinese families have enough saved in the bank to cover the tuition fees and accommodation and living expenses. Instead, many are choosing to take on massive debt at a critical time in their own life. Such investments often create what sociologists call "the new urban poor".

最近,一些国外大学的管理监督漏洞,更增加了那些支付高昂费用送子女留学的家庭的风险.

Recently, the control failures in some universities increase risks families face in paying out huge sums to have their children educated overseas.

首都师范大学教育政策研究员劳凯声表示："家长花光所有积蓄送子女出国是在拿钱赌孩子的明天.如果孩子们找不到体面的工作、没有预期的收入,家长自然就会身陷贫困."

"Parents are surrendering their last resources to wager them on a child's future by sending them abroad," said Lao Kaisheng, an education policy researcher at Capital Normal University. "If these children don't get the decent jobs and the salary that is expected, their parents will naturally be sucked into poverty."

专家认为,这就是一场风险很高的赌博.尽管家长们将出国留学视为一条成功的捷径,但有关专家称,没有多少家长真正了解发达国家大学在教育质量上存在的巨大差异.

It is a gamble, experts say, and the stakes are high.Although parents see an overseas education as a shortcut to success, experts argue that very few truly understand the vast differences in quality that exist among colleges in developed nations.

中国人民大学社会学教授周孝正（音译）认为,中国家长愿意为孩子花钱是众所周知的事.但他也提醒说,当下那些利益为先的院校大多都是二、三流的学校,它们既不提供奖学金也没有任何补助.周孝正称,家长们需要理智地对待孩子留学的问题,弄清楚自己究竟想让子女在留学期间收获什么,是心智的成长还是实用技能的培养.

Zhou Xiaozheng, a sociology professor at Renmin University of China, said everybody knows Chinese parents are willing to spend money on their children, but he warned that those looking to benefit today are largely "second- and third-rate colleges that don't offer scholarships or subsidies".Parents need to be reasonable, he said, as well as "clear about what they expect from the study period, mental development or practical skills".

词语注释：

愈演愈烈（yù yǎn yù liè）become increasingly intense

漏洞（lòudòng）loophole

补助（bǔzhù）allowance

心智（xīnzhì）mental

Source: myechinese.com