每日跟讀#724: About Education - Student debt a ’life sentence’ for millions of Americans
Haley Walters is five years away from earning her law degree. If everything goes according to plan, she will be under a mountain of $100,000 in student debt by the time she enters the work force.
哈蕾‧華特斯還有5年就能拿到法律學位。如果一切按計畫進行，她進入職場時將背負10萬美元（約307萬台幣）的龐大助學貸款。
"Somebody who graduates from a public university this year is expected to have over $35,000 in student loan debt on average," said Cody Hounanian, program director of Student Debt Crisis, a California non-profit organization.
加州非營利組織「學貸危機」主任柯迪‧霍南尼恩說：「今年從公立大學畢業的學生，平均學貸預估超過3.5萬美元（約107萬台幣）。」
According to official statistics, 71 percent of US students are burdened by such debt, with minorities, black women in particular, the hardest hit.
據官方統計，71％的美國學生身負學貸，少數族群受到最大影響，其中又以非裔女性負擔最沉重。
Despite scholarships and financial aid available to many, the cost of higher education is such that the majority of students are unable to repay their loans on schedule. In the long term, the loan balance for such people increases, interest accrues, and the debt burden just keeps going upwards.
儘管許多人可拿到獎學金和補助，但高等教育費用高到讓多數人無法如期償還貸款。長期下來，他們的貸款餘額增加、利息孳生，債務負擔只會不斷增加。
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Performance anxiety：Singapore schoolkids struggle with stress／成果焦慮：被壓力折磨的新加坡學童
Schoolchildren are paying a heavy price for Singapore’s success in global education rankings, with rising numbers seeking psychiatric help as they struggle to cope with the relentless pressure.
新加坡在全球教育排名中名列前茅，但該國學生為此付出沉重代價；為了應付沒完沒了的壓力，愈來愈多人尋求心理諮商。
According to a report, the students there have higher levels of anxiety about schoolwork than other nations. "Children are being forced to mature too fast because the society does not allow the luxury of taking it slow," said a psychologist.
根據一份報告，星國學生的課業焦慮程度高於其他國家。一名心理學家說：「孩子被迫快速長大，因為這個社會容不下慢慢來的奢侈。」
Under such heavy pressure, private, after-school tuition has become the norm. Singaporean students rank third globally on time spent on homework, at 9.4 hours a week, according to an OECD survey.
在龐大壓力下，私人課後補習已成常態。「經濟合作暨發展組織」（OECD）調查顯示，星國學生一週花9.4小時寫作業，排名全球第三。
Authorities hope to ease the pressure of students by measures including axing some exams in both primary and secondary school, and only grouping students according to ability in more academic subjects such as math and science － rather than separating them into streams for all subjects.
當局希望採取措施減輕學子的壓力，包括廢除小學和中學部分考試，以及僅在數學、科學等偏學術科目上，依據能力差異進行分班，而非在所有科目上都採取能力分班。
Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1323870 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1330353