開展素質教育是我國教育改革的重要舉措。對外宣傳中，“素質教育”無疑也是個非常重要的短語，國內一些媒體通常將其翻譯為 quality education，例如：
The Ministry of Education has worked out new policies to furtherpromote quality education that highlights the cultivation ofindependent thinking, creative spirit and practical ability, said asenior official. (chinadaily.com.cn 11/13/2000)

再看另外一個翻譯例子：
為了消除當前教育體制的弊端，我們要在全國范圍內全面實施以德育為核心，以創新精神和實踐能力為重點的素質教育。（原文）
To overcome disadvantages in current educational system, we mustcarry on the quality education centering on moral education andemphasizing creativity and practice all over the country.（譯文）

對于將“素質教育”翻譯成 quality education 的情況早已有人提出異議，并給出了一些不同的譯法。如：educationfor all-round development，quality-orientededucation和competence-oriented education等。但上述各種譯法均有不足，education forall-round development 改變了切入點，指的是讓學生得到全面發展的教育；quality-oriented education與 quality education 并無本質上的區別；而 competence-oriented education中的competence 一詞僅僅表示“能力”，這在一般的字典里都能查到，“素質教育”的內涵要遠遠超出 competence 所能覆蓋的意義。

那么“素質教育”應如何翻譯呢？這就需要通過大量查證來進行反復研究。我們學習研究的結果表明，quality education的意思是實際上是“高質量的教育”，香港的一些網站將quality education翻譯為“優質教育”。英語中有大量“形容詞+quality+名詞”的用法，例如 high quality service，highquality education，good quality equipment，good quality office space，topquality cotton 等等 ；同時用“quality+名詞”表示“高質量的某種東西”的情況也很多，最常見的例子是 qualityproducts，而 quality products 實際上就等于 products of high quality。類似的情況還有quality printed output，quality display 等。再看下面的例句，注意句子中的 qualityassurance systems 表示“高質量的（人壽）保險體系”。
The aim of the guidelines is to establish quality assurancesystems for the industry and to create a sound basis for furtherimprovement in the areas of health, safety and the environment.

再看下面的幾個例句, 其中的 quality education 均表示“高質量的教育”：

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'scrown, has been a feature of the three Conservative administrationssince 1979.
4. Making parents aware of the virtues of the school, thebuildings, the playing fields, the swimming pool etc. isn't necessarilyrelated to providing quality education.

值得注意的是，quality 一詞如果用作復數名詞, 或者放在 personal quality 這個詞組中，也可指人的具體的素質表現，例如：

1．A young senior manager still committed and working to highstandards would be "successful" as would an older manager with the samequalities progressing more slowly to senior levels.
2. The officials, the MPs and the industrialists get togetherover sandwiches to mark each candidate for their intellectual capacity,the ability to speak, write and organize, and personal qualities liketheir influence on others, their sense of responsibility ordetermination.
3. Personal qualities and work characteristics, such asself-confidence, co-operation, enthusiasm, leadership, attitudes,initiative and so on.
4. Hodgson et al (1984) also found that some schools requiredqualifications whereas others looked for personal qualities such asflexibility and good interpersonal skills. （在這里，學歷qualifications和素質personal qualities正好形成了對照）
5. The third element covers personal and social skills,communication and relationships, the ability to work in groups andpersonal qualities such as initiative, responsibility, self-relianceand leadership.

既然 quality education 不等同于“素質教育”，那么“素質教育”應該怎樣譯成英語呢？ 有一篇專門論述“素質教育”的文章，其“素質教育”的英譯是 EQO (Essential-qualities-oriented) Education：
"Trans-century EQO (essential-qualities-oriented, called su yhi jiao zu in Chinese) Education Project".

United Nations in China 網站報道中的“素質教育”也是essential-qualities-oriented schooling：
The (Chinese) government's recent promotion of a shift fromexamination-oriented to essential-qualities-oriented schooling (suzhieducation), is being followed up with guidelines on curriculumrestructuring and textbook compilation (after the National Conferenceon Education, 1999).

前面提到的兩個翻譯例子中還有一些其他問題，特別是“創新精神”和“實踐能力”的英譯與原文精神有距離。此處重點討論的是“素質教育”的英譯問題，因此對其他問題不再贅述， 現提供一個重譯供參考：
To overcome the drawbacks of the prevailing education system wemust promote throughout the country the essential-qualities-orientededucation that stresses the cultivation of moral integrity andemphasizes the development of creativity of the mind and hands-onabilities.

Caliber 一詞也可以用來指人的素質。根據 Chambers 21st Century Dictionary的定義，caliber一詞的意思是“quality；standard；ability”；Webster's New WorldDictionary將其解釋為“degree of worth or value of a person or thing; qualityorability”。由此可見，caliber大致相當于我們所說的“素質”。我們在一英語國家的網站見到過這樣一則招聘廣告，標題是：LookingFor High Caliber Talent（招聘高素質人才）。類似的例子還有：persons of caliber andsubstance（有素質、有內涵的人），management staff of the highestcaliber（高素質的管理人員）以及This man was a person of high caliber.（此人素質很高。）

下面再看幾個關于caliber 用法的例子:
1. He wanted someone of high caliber, with business and administrative skills.
2. The Department of the Environment admits it is almost impossibleto recruit the caliber of inspectors it wants on salaries starting atabout ?15,000.
3. The caliber of the new staff is impressive and the pay-bill alone will reduce by more than ?0.25m a year.
4. Quite frankly the salaries you offer these C P Os are much toolow; if they weren't retired police officers, you wouldn't get thecaliber of person.
5. Most listed companies do not yet have enough independentdirectors to fulfill the roles, and it is even doubtful whether enoughindividuals of the right caliber are available for these positions,particularly in view of the heavy legal responsibilities that anycompany director incurs.
6. The Committee on the Management of Local Government wasappointed, to consider in the light of modern conditions how localgovernment might best continue to attract and retain people of thecaliber necessary to ensure its maximum effectiveness'.

其實，學生素質、教師素質、干部素質、黨員素質等都可以用 caliber 這個詞來翻譯，
因為Caliber可以是學術方面的素質：

the wide and generally understood variations in academic caliber between American universities.
Time to turn one's thoughts to matters of a more intellectual caliber.
The European Business Studies degree prepares students for theEuropean fields of business activity, and has always attracted a highcaliber of student with language skills and an urge to do business inthe varied market places of Europe.
High-caliber lecturers at UNITAR. Good lecturers sometimes inspire students to do well in their subjects.
British scientific research was of a high caliber.

Caliber也可以指專業和業務方面的素質：

Many agents are worried about the current caliber of editors.
Lawyers in local government seek trainee solicitors of the highest caliber.
If theatre artists of this caliber are prepared to launch aproduction from Plymouth, it seems a fair bet that the Theatre Royalmanagement has got its act together.
The caliber of the expedition leaders ensures that these youngtravelers are able to complete trips that would be too complicated toorganize for themselves.
I expected six or seven caliber applicants, though others in the business said I would be surprised by the numbers to apply.
The Executive Portfolio is a comprehensive program of executive education for high-caliber management professionals.
Efforts should always be rewarded and whilst good salary levels areessential to retain the right caliber of staff, bonus payments forexceptional effort or particular success will be rewarded by increasedmotivation.

從下面這則招聘廣告的上下文來看，caliber 明顯地具有“素質”的含意：

"High-caliber skills for high-caliber people
Choosing to study for an MBA in the UK is a giant step towardsinvesting in your future employability by enhancing your range ofmanagement skills.
The MBA is designed for well-qualified managers who wish to addvalue to their practical experience by gaining an in-depthunderstanding of up-to-date approaches to management and itsdevelopment. ...
As a result, your educational experience will be enriched by studying with high-caliber students. ..."
此外，caliber還可以指政治方面的素質：
The persistent concern to increase councilor caliber throughreorganization makes it equally clear that the essential object ofreorganization has been to make local government more functional … byrestructuring it...
After the next election, there will be 80 or 90 women of remarkably high caliber on the Labor side.
It's just that there aren't enough sufficiently high caliber members in the party's lower ranks.
We must make sure that the Communists play the leading role in theorgans of political power, and therefore the Party members who occupyone-third of the places must be of high caliber. This will be enough toensure the Party's leadership...

來源: 譯友-翻譯人才網