按课堂讲解方向整理:明确反驳 more,用机会成本论证,给出可行的公私合办与社区集资替代方案。
Education of adults who cannot read or write is important, but I do not agree that more public money should be spent on this.
There is no doubt that helping illiterate adults learn to read and write can bring real benefits. If adults gain basic literacy skills, they are more likely to find stable jobs and support their families. This also helps society because fewer people will need long-term welfare support. Therefore, some public funding for adult education is necessary.
However, the keyword in the question is 'more'. In my view, 'more' means more than the amount already spent, not more than the money given to young people's education. Since the total education budget is limited, increasing spending on adult literacy would mean taking money away from primary and secondary schools. This creates a high opportunity cost. When we compare the two groups fairly, we should focus on the same goal: turning an illiterate person into a literate person. For young people, this change happens early in life, so the long-term return for society is greater. For adults, the return is also real but often smaller because they have fewer working years left. Therefore, moving money from young people's education to adult literacy would cost more than it gains.
This does not mean we should ignore the problem. Instead of spending more public money, governments can try other ways. One option is a public-private partnership: companies can help pay for training because they benefit from having more skilled workers. If a business trains an adult worker, it may later get lower labor costs and a larger talent pool. Another option is community funding: local communities can use part of their management fees to run small literacy classes. In this way, the government keeps its current spending, and the extra money comes from other sources.
In conclusion, adult literacy education is important, but spending more public money on it would have too high an opportunity cost for young people's education. A better solution is to share the cost with companies and local communities.