Minister of Education Wu Ching-chi (吳清基), the former deputy mayor of Taipei, said yesterday he would continue pushing the “one guideline, single textbook” policy — a major municipal education policy under Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) administration.
Wu, who was also a member of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) municipal team during the latter’s tenure as Taipei mayor, had served as head of the city’s Department of Education for more than five years and did not hesitate to challenge the Ministry of Education in pushing the single textbook policy proposed by Hau.
Hau said the policy would reduce the burden on students by standardizing textbooks. The city’s decision, however, ran counter to the ministry’s policy allowing schools to pick their own textbooks to encourage diversity. The issue has become a bone of contention between the central and local governments.
Brushing off the thorny issue, Wu said yesterday that the ministry had approved the city’s plan to hold joint examinations with Taipei County and Keelung based on its single-textbook policy, with the first joint examinations to be held in 2011.
“Different cities and counties have different considerations,” he said. “I will respect the local governments’ decisions and will not force other cities and counties to implement the policy.”
Assisting students in disaster areas to continue their education, as well as cooperating with the Ministry of Health to contain the spread of A (H1N1), or swine flu, in schools will also be top priorities, Wu said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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