“素质教育”怎样表达？
开展素质教育是我国教育改革的重要举措。对外宣传中，“素质教育”无疑也是个非常重要的短语，国内一些媒体通常将其翻译为 qualityeducation，例如：
The Ministry of Education has worked out new policies to further promote
quality education that highlights the cultivation of independent thinking,
creative spirit and practical ability, said a senior official.
(chinadaily.com.cn 11/13/2000)
再看另外一个翻译例子：
为了消除当前教育体制的弊端，我们要在全国范围内全面实施以德育为核心，以创新精神和实践能力为重点的素质教育。(原文)
To overcome disadvantages in current educational system, we must carry on
the quality education centering on moral education and emphasizing creativity
and practice all over the country.(译文)
对于将“素质教育”翻译成 quality education 的情况早已有人提出异议，并给出了一些不同的译法。如：education for
all-round development，quality-oriented education和competence-oriented
education等。但上述各种译法均有不足，education for all-round development
改变了切入点，指的是让学生得到全面发展的教育;quality-oriented education 与 quality education 并无本质上的区别;而
competence-oriented education中的 competence
一词仅仅表示“能力”，这在一般的字典里都能查到，“素质教育”的内涵要远远超出 competence 所能覆盖的意义。
那么“素质教育”应如何翻译呢?这就需要通过大量查证来进行反复研究。我们学习研究的结果表明，quality education
的意思是实际上是“高质量的教育”，香港的一些网站将quality education
翻译为“优质教育”。英语中有大量“形容词+quality+名词”的用法，例如 high quality service，high quality
education，good quality equipment，good quality office space，top quality cotton 等等
;同时用“quality+名词”表示“高质量的某种东西”的情况也很多，最常见的例子是 quality products，而 quality products
实际上就等于 products of high quality。类似的情况还有 quality printed output，quality display
等。再看下面的例句，注意句子中的 quality assurance systems 表示“高质量的(人寿)保险体系”。
The aim of the guidelines is to establish quality assurance systems for the
industry and to create a sound basis for further improvement in the areas of
health, safety and the environment.
再看下面的几个例句, 其中的 quality education 均表示“高质量的教育”：
1. St Mary's is a good school providing quality education.
2. All young people have the right to quality education.
3. The demise of quality education, once the jewel in Britain's crown, has
been a feature of the three Conservative administrations since 1979.
4. Making parents aware of the virtues of the school, the buildings, the
playing fields, the swimming pool etc. isn't necessarily related to providing
quality education.
值得注意的是，quality 一词如果用作复数名词, 或者放在 personal quality 这个词组中，也可指人的具体的素质表现，例如：
1.A young senior manager still committed and working to high standards
would be "successful" as would an older manager with the same qualities
progressing more slowly to senior levels.
2. The officials, the MPs and the industrialists get together over
sandwiches to mark each candidate for their intellectual capacity, the ability
to speak, write and organize, and personal qualities like their influence on
others, their sense of responsibility or determination.
3. Personal qualities and work characteristics, such as self-confidence,
co-operation, enthusiasm, leadership, attitudes, initiative and so on.
4. Hodgson et al (1984) also found that some schools required
qualifications whereas others looked for personal qualities such as flexibility
and good interpersonal skills. (在这里，学历qualifications 和素质personal
qualities正好形成了对照)
5. The third element covers personal and social skills, communication and
relationships, the ability to work in groups and personal qualities such as
initiative, responsibility, self-reliance and leadership.
既然 quality education 不等同于“素质教育”，那么“素质教育”应该怎样译成英语呢?
有一篇专门论述“素质教育”的文章，其“素质教育”的英译是 EQO (Essential-qualities-oriented) Education：
"Trans-century EQO (essential-qualities-oriented, called su yhi jiao zu in
Chinese) Education Project".
United Nations in China 网站报道中的“素质教育”也是essential-qualities-oriented
schooling：
The (Chinese) government's recent promotion of a shift from
examination-oriented to essential-qualities-oriented schooling (suzhi
education), is being followed up with guidelines on curriculum restructuring and
textbook compilation (after the National Conference on Education, 1999).
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