十年树木，百年树人：义务教育终于变成十二年！
导读:近年来呼吁普及高中教育的呼声越来越高，而“十三五”计划也曾承诺要在期末实现高中教育普及，而近日教育部等多部委联合发布一份指导方针，九年义务教育终于变成了十二年。
The country is to extend the current nine-year compulsory education to encompass high school students nationwide by 2020, according to a guideline recently released by the Ministry of Education and other three ministries.
据教育部和其他三部委联合发布的一项指导方针指出，中国将在2020年前把九年义务教育扩展为十二年，范围涵盖全国所有高中生。
The Guideline for Popularizing High School Education (2017-20), released early this month, aims to raise the gross enrolment ratio for high schools to above 90 percent on average nationwide with rates in central and western China substantially improved.
本月初发布了《高中阶段教育普及攻坚计划(2017—2020年)》，旨在将全国平均高中入学率提高到90%以上、并大幅度提高中西部的高中入学率。
Last year, China’s overall gross enrollment ratio was 87.5 percent for high schools, meaning a rise of 2.5 percentage points in the next four years, according to the guideline.
据这份指导文件显示，去年中国高中入学率为87.5%，这就意味着接下来4年高中入学率将提高2.5个百分点。
The ratio is a statistical measurement to show the number of enrolled students to those who qualify for certain grades, ranging from primary school to middle and high school periods. Over the past few decades, China required children to attend primary and middle schools, while high school was not obligatory.
入学率是一个统计指标，表示被录取学生和适龄儿童的比例，范围涵盖小学、初中和高中。在过去几十年里，中国的义务教育只包括小学和初中范围，高中并没有涵盖在内。
Meanwhile, the document said the country is set to achieve a more reasonable structure between high school and secondary occupational education while enrolling a larger number of children into both schools. In addition, these schools will enjoy more funds and better facilities to significantly improve the quality of education.
与此同时，该文件指出中国将在高中和中等职业教育之间建立更加合理的结构，两类学校的招收人数都要增加。此外，这些学校将得到更多的资金和更好的设施，从而显著提高教育质量。
High school is a special and important stage for most Chinese students, which links the nine-year compulsory education and college time they will spend before getting a job. That’s why high school has been considered a key period to improve quality of the nation’s human resources.
对于大多数中国学生来说高中都是一个特殊而又重要的阶段，这三年是九年义务教育和学生就业之前大学生活之间的一个过渡。这就是为什么高中被认为是提高一个国家人力资源质量的关键时期。
The guideline was in line with China’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), which pledges to popularize high school education by the end of this period. The new document is also to bridge regional disparity of high school education as the central and western regions lag far behind the east.
这份指导方针和中国的“十三五”计划相一致，该计划曾承诺在期末时实现高中教育普及。该文件也将弥补高中教育的地区差异，因为目前中西部的高中教育远远落后于东部地区。
