多読教材

多読教材"13 Ukrainian Kids Go Back to School — With Bunkers at the Ready(ウクライナ学校再開、地下シェルターで)

https://www.newsweek.com/ukrainian-kids-go-back-school-bunkers-ready-1739553

ニュースサイトから英語学習にうってつけの記事を厳選していく、多読向け教材シリーズ。

代表Okadaです。The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Newsweek といったニュース系の記事を読むことをルーティン化している私ですが、ここ数週間はPoliticsに関連する記事を中心に読み漁っています。

今回はTIMEと並ぶアメリカ最大の週刊誌Newsweekのウェブサイト版より。

Newsweek

アメリカ最大のニュース雑誌の1つ。1933年創刊という超老舗。様々なジャンルを扱うTIMEと異なり、政治や社会情勢に強い。Trinity Audioというシステムが採用され、記事の音声はほぼ全てについているのが英語学習者にはオイシイところ。

使われる語彙レベルはさほど高くないので、高校生や大学生で初めて英語ニュースにチャレンジという場合にオススメです。ただし、政治系、社会情勢系中心なので、内容として難しいと感じるかもしれません。

Article (記事)

Ukrainian Kids Go Back to School — With Bunkers at the Ready

Number of Words

650 words

黙読3m15s 音読4m04 で読み切れればスピードリーディングスキル(速読力)十分。

Text:本文(Source: https://www.newsweek.com/ukrainian-kids-go-back-school-bunkers-ready-1739553

Ukrainian Kids Go Back to School — With Bunkers at the Ready

By Joseph Golder, Zenger News On 9/2/22 at 1:49 PM EDT

These images show how kids in Ukraine are going back to school with air raid bunkers at the ready.

The first piece of footage shows a school in the Poltava region in central Ukraine ready to welcome students back to its classrooms, with the basement kitted out like a bunker should the Russians launch air raids.

The footage was obtained Wednesday from the governor of the central Ukrainian region of Poltava, Dmytro Lunin, 42, who said: "Poltava Oblast is ready for the start of the academic year in various formats. Parents choose the form of education.

"Our priority remains unchanged: safety. Thanks to Ukrainian defenders, children in Poltava region can study online and offline. And the best thanks from them to our soldiers is to get quality knowledge. Everything will be Ukraine."

The images were also relayed by the Poltava region.

Lunin had said on August 16: "The educational process should be minimally stressful, maximum safety and quality. September 1 is just over two weeks away. Together with my deputy Maxim Kalininin, we will go to places and check shelters in kindergartens and schools."

He added at the time: "Smaller village schools are also being prepared. Overall, the process is in full swing in the region. Some institutions have already managed the task, some continue their work. The coverings must meet the established standards.

"There should be heat, light, air conditioning, internet connection, water supplies, bathrooms. Talking about the cost of equipment is a relatively small expense for communities."

Lunin advised schools to prepare shelters, saying: "I strongly advise to take care of shelter in schools to all communities. This issue should be considered not only tactically, but also strategically. There are 533 schools in the region. A hundred and sixty of them are ready, and about 130 more in the process of preparation. The district and communities are doing everything right now to make sure schools have the right shelter. The children's safety comes first."

It was announced that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited a school in the Irpin area just outside the capital Kyiv on Knowledge Day, which is September 1 in Ukraine.

Zelensky visited the secondary school, which was damaged in March during the Russian invasion and will welcome 1,300 students back, and took part in a special class.

Greeting one another with "Slava Ukraini!" ('Glory to Ukraine!'), the president talked to the schoolchildren and congratulated them, according to the Office of the President of Ukraine.

He told the schoolchildren: "School is a second home. It is very nice to see so many sunny, bright children. You are recharging us all today. It's good for you to study, good luck and all the best."

Zelensky also inspected the school's basement, which has been "set up to shelter students during air raids," according to his office.

The Office of the President also said: "Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, told Volodymyr Zelensky, after the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, 215 educational institutions were damaged in the Kyiv region, and 12 were completely destroyed. From 1 September, 412 kindergartens and 548 schools will work in the region in full-time and mixed formats. Eighty-two percent of schools have shelters."

"We are working to ensure that every Ukrainian war-damaged educational institution resumed operations, and our children were safe and nothing prevented them from gaining knowledge."

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is still calling a "special military operation." Friday marks the 191st day of the war.

Highlights(キーポイント)

https://www.newsweek.com/ukrainian-kids-go-back-school-bunkers-ready-1739553

● ウクライナで子どもたちの学校が再開しはじめた。ロシアからの空襲を避けるための地下シェルターような場所でだが。

●その地域の533の学校のうち準備が完了しているのが160、130は学校再開の手続きを進めている。ロシアによる侵攻でKyiv地区の215の教育施設が損壊し、12は完全に破壊されている。9月1日より412の幼稚園と548の学校が再開する。ただし、学校の82%は地下シェルターとなる。

Opinion(私の意見)

日本では与えられるのが当然の教育。学校で寝るのも学校をサボるのも個人の意志で決定できます。

一方、ウクライナでは、学生・児童も、指導者側も教育を受けたり与えたりするのに制約がかかっています。特に、生徒たちにとっては学びたくてもその機会がない、という現状。

平和な日本にいる自分の背筋がピンと伸ばされるような気持ちになりました。

指導する機会が与えられていることは本当にありがたいことだなと思います。

私は高校や予備校で指導もしていますが、やはり居眠りをしたり、課題を出さなかったり、サボったりは散見されます。こちらの指導スキルの問題点ももちろんあるのでしょうが、学びたくても学べない現実がアフリカなどの発展途上国に限らず、戦争で苦しむ国にも存在していることを、この記事を通してそういった学生さんに感じ取ってほしいなと感じました。

-多読教材