Provide education money for Syrian school children

歌曲 Provide education money for Syrian school children
歌手 英语听力
专辑 VOA慢速英语:教育报道

歌词

[00:00.10] From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.12] this is the Education Report.
[00:05.10] The United Nations Children's Fund(UNICEF)
[00:08.39] is appealing to international donors
[00:11.07] to help provide education money
[00:13.94] for Syrian school children.
[00:16.44] Safe places to learn,
[00:18.58] teachers and supplies are all lacking,
[00:22.42] and almost two million young Syrian students
[00:26.35] have dropped out of school.
[00:28.50] UNICEF says about 40 percent of students
[00:33.28] in grades one to nine across the nation
[00:36.81] no longer attend for more classes.
[00:40.51] UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado says
[00:45.28] about half those are now refugees
[00:48.37] in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.
[00:52.41] "Thirty months into the conflict,
[00:54.65] children are becoming increasingly afraid,
[00:56.99] angry and frustrated.
[00:59.08] The risk of a lost generation becomes more acute
[01:02.30] with each day that they are out of school."
[01:04.65] In the northern city of Aleppo, for example,
[01:08.53] only 6 percent of children of school-age are in classrooms,
[01:14.51] but the school year there and in other locations
[01:19.00] begin as planned on September 15.
[01:23.39] Talk of military strike by the United States
[01:27.28] has caused uncertainty about starting classes,
[01:31.97] but schools opened after a strike appeared less likely.
[01:36.95] Still many children who once walked to school
[01:41.69] are now taken there by their parents,
[01:44.92] and other families have simply left the country.
[01:49.87] Lebanon now is trying to help about 550,000
[01:55.90] school-age Syrian refugee children.
[01:59.30] UNICEF says the Lebanese public education system
[02:04.74] can take care of 300,000 Lebanese children.
[02:10.12] UNICEF is establishing schools for refugee children in buses.
[02:16.44] In Jordan, UNICEF says about two-thirds of 150,000
[02:24.27] Syrian school-age children are not in school.
[02:28.59] One main refugee camp has 30,000 Syrian children,
[02:35.12] fewer than half are in school.
[02:38.71] In Iraq, UNICEF says nine out of 10
[02:43.49] Syrian refugee children are out of school.
[02:47.47] Inside Syria, Miss Mercado says
[02:51.86] the educational system has been torn apart.
[02:55.85] But UNICEF and Syrian government say
[03:00.13] about 3,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed.
[03:05.21] In addition, more than 900 schools that are still standing
[03:10.44] are being used as shelter for displaced families.
[03:14.93] "The fact that there are still children going to school
[03:18.38] in this context is quite incredible."
[03:20.13] Miss Mercado says the agency is operating programs
[03:24.76] for children to learn at home.
[03:26.80] The UNICEF spokeswoman praises what she believes
[03:31.18] is the huge importance that Syrian parents place on eduction.
[03:37.07] UNICEF has asked for $161 million
[03:42.65] from international donors for education.
[03:46.08] But the agency says it has received only $51 million.
[03:52.26] And that's the Education Report from VOA Learning English.
[03:57.34] I'm Avi Arditti.