上月初，CIE（Cambridge International Examinations）的首席执行官Michael O'Sullivan沙利文先生陪同英国议员团来访石室中学，成都市教育局、外事交流处、石室中学、石室剑桥课程中心各领导人对他们进行了热情接待，双方就中国国际教育领域问题作了交流讨论。
尽管这次短暂的石室之行已经结束，但CIE的沙利文先生却对这次访问印象深刻，中国的教育问题引发了他的思考。回国后他亲自撰写了一篇石室之行后他对日趋发展的中国国际教育问题的见解——A revolution in Chinese education？中国教育的革命？
By Michael O'Sullivan
In early June 2016, I accompanied a delegation of eight Members of Parliament from the UK, representing the All Party Parliamentary Group on China, when they visited a Cambridge curriculum programme based at the Shishi High School in the city of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.
2016年6月初，我随同英国议会跨党派中国小组（APPCG）代表团，英国议员一行八人，参观了四川成都石室中学的剑桥国际高中课程中心。
Visiting the oldest school in the world
参访全世界最古老的学校
The MPs programme covered many aspects of the rapid economic and social development of southwest China. Shishi High School has a considerable claim to fame. Founded in 141BC during the Han Dynasty, it may be the oldest school in the world still teaching on its original site, in downtown Chengdu. But that was not the reason for the MPs’ visit. They came to see how a group of students at the school move from studying the Chinese curriculum at age 14-15 to preparing for Cambridge IGCSEs and Cambridge International A levels. The school is proud of the fact that over the last three years, every single student completing this programme has gained admission to a World Top 500 university – outside China. About two thirds have entered universities in the US, one quarter of them are studying in the UK , and the rest have gone to various other countries.
议员代表团在本次行程中对中国西南部飞速发展的经济、社会诸多方面都有了进一步的了解。石室中学历史悠久，声名显赫。创建于公元前141年的汉代，位于成都市中心的石室中学是世界上迄今为止仍在原址教学的最古老的学校。然而，悠久的历史并不是议员们选择访问该校的原因。此次参访，他们是想了解该学校国际课程中心的一群学生如何学习和准备剑桥IGCSE课程和ALEVEL课程，而不是学习常规中国普高课程。令学校感到骄傲的是，在过去的三年中，剑桥国际课程中心的每一位学生都获得了世界排名前500的海外大学的录取。约三分之二的学生被美国大学录取，四分之一赴英国留学，其余的学生也去了不同的国家深造。
Rising demand for international education
不断增长的国际教育需求
Last year 55,000 students in China entered for Cambridge examinations. Several other providers of international school qualifications are also active in the country. Candidate numbers are rising every year, and the number of schools seeking to offer such programmes (more than 200 currently work with Cambridge International Examinations) is also on the rise.
去年，中国有5万5千名学生参加了剑桥考试。其他一些国际课程的提供者也十分活跃。报名学生每年都在增加，意愿开设国际课程的学校（其中超过两百所与剑桥考试委员会合作）数量也在不断上升。
While internationally-recognised end-of-school foreign qualifications such as Cambridge International A levels offer access to universities all over the world, they do not get Chinese students into Chinese universities. For that, a good score in the national university entrance examination, the Gaokao, is required.
虽然像剑桥ALEVEL一样的国际认可的高中文凭被世界各国所认可，但是这些课程并不能帮助中国学生进入中国本土的大学。要入读中国本土的大学，中国学生必须在高考中取得好分数。
There are three main reasons why international education is gaining in popularity:
国际教育愈来愈受欢迎的原因有三点：
●The pressure of the Gaokao
高考压力
The Gaokao is a tough examination. Despite some progressive reform, it still requires students to have a prodigious memory. For most students, it also demands long hours of additional tuition and revision in order to achieve a good score. Students will only gain admission to top institutions such as Peking University and Tsinghua University if they get outstanding scores – such is the demand for places.
高考的难度非常大。虽然近年来出现了一些大的高考改革，这一考试仍然要求学生有惊人的记忆力。对于绝大多数学生来说，他们需要大量的额外辅导和复习才能获得较好的分数。要进入如清华、北大之类中国顶尖的大学，学生必须在分数上远远领先于其他人。这就是为什么高考的竞争非常激烈。
Since the risk of disappointment is so high, it is not surprising that many affluent parents consider the alternatives. ‘A’ grades in Cambridge International A Levels provide access to highly-ranked foreign universities but even ‘C’ grades will get students into a range of respectable universities in the US or the UK. The risk of failure and frustration is significantly lower that for Gaokao students.
鉴于如此残酷的现实，许多较为富裕的家长开始为孩子考虑其他出路，也就不足为怪了。在剑桥国际ALEVEL考试中拿到A，就能入读排名靠前的海外大学，而哪怕只拿了C，学生也能够进入美国和英国一些不错的大学。对于学生来说，失败的可能性是远远小于参加高考的。
●An increasingly international outlook
日趋国际化的视野
China’s middle classes have an increasingly international outlook. Many work for or own companies engaged in international trade. Private offshore investment, particularly in real estate is also becoming more common place, as is international tourism.
中国中产阶级的国际视野在不断增长。他们当中许多人都就职于或者拥有从事国际贸易的企业。海外私人投资，尤其在房地产领域，变得越来越普遍。出国旅游也变得更为常见。
Parents’ views on education also appear to be shifting. There is more appreciation of the importance of student well-being, well-rounded learning and creativity. These changes in popular perception are in tune with the Chinese authorities’ thinking with regards to education reform in Chinese state schools. However, whole-system reform takes years and parents want solutions for their children today.
家长的教育理念似乎也在转变。他们开始更加看重学生的身心健康、全面发展和创造力。这些大众理念的转变与中国官方对于中国公立教育体制改革的愿景是一致的。但是，整个系统的改变需要很多年的努力，而家长现在就想要为孩子找到解决办法。
●The importance placed on English language
英语的重要性
It seems that everyone in China is learning English or at the very least, everyone under 20 years old. However attainment varies greatly. A bilingual education in China, followed by study at university in an English-speaking country, equips students with language skills which open the doors to good jobs both in China and overseas.
在当下的中国，好像每一个人都在学英语，或者至少每一个二十岁以下的人。然而，学习的效果差异巨大。在中国接受双语教育，然后在英语国家完成大学学位，会让学生有足够的英语能力胜任国内外的优秀工作机会。
The authorities are understandably cautious about the expansion of such programmes in state schools, preferring to concentrate on improvement of state education broadly. In many parts of China, new programmes of this kind are not being authorised. What is happening with increasing speed and scale is the establishment of private schools all over China offering education programmes leading to international qualifications such as Cambridge International A levels. Demand is so strong that a variety of entities including education companies, real estate developers and subsidiaries of famous Chinese universities are investing heavily in the expansion of private international education for Chinese children. The day before I joined the MPs in Chengdu, I visited a private boarding school in a town some thirty miles away. It was a boarding school on a stunning campus with a British headmaster and British, Irish and American teachers – preparing Chinese students for A levels and study abroad.
中国官方对于公立学校越来越多地开设国际课程持可以理解的谨慎态度，而倾向于将重心放在全面改进公立学校教育上。在中国的许多地区，新增此类课程并不会得到政府批准。真正在全国范围内大规模和快速增长的是开设剑桥ALEVEL这样的国际课程的私立学校。因为需求猛增，一系列组织和机构如教育公司、地产商和中国知名大学的附属学校都在大力投入国际课程的推广。在来成都见到议员代表团的前一天，我参访了几十公里以外的一个私立寄宿学校。这个学校的校园环境十分优美，校长是英国人，老师来自英国、爱尔兰和美国。学校提供ALEVEL课程，为学生今后出国求学做准备。
The next few years look likely to see private sector expansion which will change the education landscape in China. From the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949 until well into the 1990s, there were effectively no private schools in China, apart from a few restricted to educating the children of expatriates. Up until recently, the most prestigious and highly desired schools among parents have been state schools. Now, private schools are not only growing in number but are starting to challenge state schools as the institutions of choice for those who can afford it and are keen to send their children to foreign universities.
今后的几年中，我们很可能会看到中国私立学校的不断增长，而这将改变中国教育的面貌。从1949年新中国成立到二十世纪末，中国几乎没有私立学校，除了个别为外国人子女提供教育的学校。哪怕到现在，在家长心中最有声望和地位的学校也全都是公立学校。如今，私立学校不仅数量上在增加，它们也作为有条件的、想送孩子出国学习的家长的一种新选择，对传统的教育体系发出了挑战。
