However, our government is planning to issue an annual education coupon for each student without considering the possibility of extending public education to lower age groups.
The distribution of resources among Taiwan's senior high and senior vocational schools has always been unfair. How do we resolve the inequalities in school districts after a 12-year system is implemented? The problem is complicated by the fact that the subjects or majors offered by senior vocational schools are not evenly distributed around the country. How do we satisfy the demand of the students under these circumstances?
In Taipei County alone, there are 60,000 junior high graduates a year. More than 20,000 go to Taipei City or other counties and cities to continue their education. These figures tell us the adoption of a school district system is virtually impossible.
In a democratic country, every administrative act must have a legal basis. New legislation on education must address pressing issues such as the appropriation of an additional budget from the state treasury, what rights and obligations are entailed in one's right to education and human rights education.
But before these issues are adequately provided for, we should work on more practical items such as decreasing the workload on school children and increasing their sleeping hours, rather than declaring a new educational policy.
Teng Yun-lin is a professor at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hsuan Chuang University (
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