Students opposed to controversial curriculum changes have launched a movement “within the establishment” to complement their activism, collecting legislators’ and legislative candidates’ signatures for a project that calls for not only the withdrawal of the adjusted curriculum, but also the codification of the curriculum adjustment process.
Student representatives held a press conference with a number of legislators and legislative candidates yesterday, saying that while they have had to resort to storming the Ministry of Education building after repeatedly receiving “meaningless and disingenuous responses” from the government, they are also pushing a project aimed at lawmakers for an “intra-institutional” action.
“The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) cannot shirk its responsibilities as the major opposition party. However, when its chairperson, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), said that she would bear complete responsibility for the issue if the DPP becomes the ruling party, contrary to what might be expected of us, we are actually worried about such rhetoric, as it signifies that political forces could continue to intervene in our education system,” Taoyuan High School Alliance spokesperson Liao Hao-hsiang (廖浩翔) said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
“Without the codification of the curriculum adjusting procedure, political forces can, as we all are now witnessing, easily influence our education,” he added, saying that Tsai has not tabled a clear platform on the issue.
“Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), on the other hand, persistently alleged the student activism has been instigated by the DPP. We are here to sternly clarify that the curriculum issue is not a blue-green or unification-independence struggle,” Liao said. “This is an action for pursuing truth, educational dignity and academic professionalism.”
Tainan Secondary School Student Anti-curriculum Front representative Kuo Tsu-hsin (郭子信) said the students “strongly condemn” the attempts by the KMT.
Anti-black-box Curriculum Action Alliance representative Tu Yu-yin (涂予尹), who is also a Taiwan Association of Human Rights lawyer, railed against Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) for saying he “has no right to withdraw the adjusted curriculum.”
“The ministry maintains that the curriculum adjustments are an administrative matter, rather than a legal matter. If that is so, according to the Administrative Procedure Act (行政程序法), it could then be “abolished by the agency that promulgated it,” which is the Ministry of Education, Tu said.
Tu said that the curriculum-adjusting controversy this time is not an individual issue.
“Our intermediate goal is to examine and supervise the 12-year education guidelines, which has so far failed to meet transparency standards,” Tu said.
“The long-term goal, which pertains to a problem that the students have also noticed, is the legislation of the curriculum adjustment procedure, which concerns publishers’ rights, the students’ rights to learn and teaching freedom for teachers,” Tu said.
Students said they have contacted 147 legislators and legislative candidates who signed their petition and the DPP, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, the People First Party, the Green Party, the Social Democratic Party, the New Power Party and several candidates without party affiliations, including social activist Wang Pao-hsuan (王寶萱) and Aboriginal activist Mayaw Biho, who support their cause.
“While at least seven KMT lawmakers voiced their opposition clearly, 85 percent of them refused to make public their stance, which is actually curious, as we would have thought that they would state their strong opposition. Instead they tried to keep their stance unclear,” Liao said.
The students said KMT Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) was the only KMT lawmaker who had expressed her support.
However, KMT Legislator Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) of Yunlin County has also endorsed the students. She said yesterday that she agrees that an extraordinary session should be called and the curriculum withdrawn.
Exiled Chinese dissident Wuer Kaixi is among the legislative candidates without party affiliations who have expressed support for the students.
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS