Talks between Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) and students over the curriculum controversy fell apart yesterday, with students storming out of a Ministry of Education (MOE)-sponsored forum in tears.
“What in the world are these talks supposed to be?” Northern Taiwan Anti-Curriculum Changes Alliance convener Chu Chen (朱震) said. “What I see is a failure of education and a policy that has gradually moved away from the masses.”
“We are willing to accept a suspension of the implementation [of changes to curriculum guidelines] — all that is needed is those few words,” he said, repeatedly breaking into tears. “Only that would count as respect, without which, all we are left with, other than pain, is a hatred of the government and education.”
Photo: CNA
Wu repeated his position that it is administratively impossible for the guidelines to be withdrawn, because they have already gone into effect.
“I am truly willing to allow schools to make the decision about textbook choices. I think this is the solution to the problem,” Wu said when asked if the ministry could postpone implementation until next year.
The ministry’s policy of allowing schools to choose whether to use pre-adjustment textbooks represented the “maximum” it could do, he said, urging students to “return to school” and ask their teachers to keep using old textbooks if they disagree with guideline adjustments.
Photo: Reuters
After Wu’s rejection, Chu rushed from the meeting room in tears, shouting: “I am so sorry Dai Lin (林冠華),” referring to a student whose suicide on Thursday last week, allegedly in protest against changes to high-school curriculum guidelines, sparked the latest wave of student protests against the controversial adjustments, in which student protesters have occupied the ministry’s forecourt since Friday last week.
Chu was followed out the room by the few remaining student protesters, including Yi Juo-yu (伊若宇), who threw a badge at Wu, calling him “shameless” and promising to “look him up” later.
Prior to Chu’s outburst, most of the other students had already left the meeting in protest after Wu refused to make concessions, only to rush back and bang on the meeting door, saying that they needed to “save” Chu after he started to cry.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
In a tear-filled news conference afterward, students expressed their frustration with the ministry.
“Today is the day that Taiwan’s history and education died,” National Taichung First Senior High School Apple Tree Commune Club spokesperson Chen Chien-hsun (陳建勳) said. “All that the death of a student has gained is the education minister telling us that we should ‘look to the future.’ What is that supposed to mean?”
“Today we compromised and told the ministry that we could accept a ‘suspension’ or ‘freezing’ [of the implementation of curriculum guideline adjustments] because we are tired and we do not want anyone else to be hurt,” he said, falling to his knees as he apologized to protesters.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Yesterday’s talks between Wu and student representatives at the National Central Library in Taipei focused on accusations of irregularities in the process under which the guidelines were adopted, with students citing the absence of academics of Taiwanese history from the review committee and the ministry’s loss in a lawsuit on procedural openness in calling for a suspension.
In response, Wu repeated previous ministry talking points, including that a Control Yuan investigation had found no problems with the procedures and that the ministry had a responsibility to protect the privacy of academics who participated in the guideline’s review committee.
Wu arrived 10 minutes late for the forum, and at one point rolled his eyes in response to comments made by National Taiwan University history professor Hua Yih-fen (花亦芬), who accompanied the students.
She told him that there would be no way to “help” him if he kept using “bureaucratic verbal tricks” and “administrative procedures” to respond to the students.
Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) after the forum finished announced four concessionary displays of “good will” to the students, including a promise to reveal the names of members of the guideline review committee members within 10 days of asking their permission, adding an appendix on controversial terminology to the outlines, guaranteeing schools the right to select their own textbooks and initiating a “rolling review” of the review process.
He said the event was a “good start” for communication between the ministry and students, adding that the ministry was open to arranging further meetings.
Although the ministry had previously suspended implementation of the original 2009 curriculum guidelines, the current round of adjustments could not be suspended, because it had already been implemented, he said, adding that suspension would put the ministry on the line to cover the losses of publishers that have already revised textbooks.
The ministry would investigate the possibility of covering the losses of schools that wish to switch back to old textbooks, he said. Most schools had already completed the textbook selection process when the ministry announced in June that schools were free to continue using the old versions of textbooks.
At press time last night, a large crowd remained in the ministry’s courtyard, with student representatives saying that they would announce their next steps today.
CAUTION: Taiwanese should be alert, even if they have just liked or shared posts that would breach Beijing’s national security legislation for Hong Kong, the council said Due to the newly implemented Hong Kong national security legislation, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has drawn up a list of what it described as “high-risk groups,” cautioning them not to travel to Hong Kong. People who support independence for Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang; those who are critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Hong Kong government and the “one country, two systems” concept; and those who donated to or voiced support for the Hong Kong anti-extradition bill movement are urged to refrain from visiting Hong Kong, the council said on its Web site. It released two posts on
NEW HONG KONG LAW: A visit to Beijing-friendly nations or those with weak judicial systems could leave people at risk of deportation to China, a former MAC official said Beijing could request countries with which it has extradition agreements to deport Taiwanese to China to face criminal charges following the implementation of national security legislation for Hong Kong, a former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) official warned yesterday. Some developing countries, and those close to China because of the Belt and Road Initiative, are likely to accommodate Beijing’s requests to extradite Taiwanese to China, said former deputy MAC minister Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺), who served from July 2, 2018, until May 20, and then returned to his former post as an assistant professor of sociology at National Tsing Hua University. While Taiwanese
MORAL COURAGE: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the global community to face China’s intention to subdue Taiwan and reject such irrational requests The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday strongly condemned the Chinese government for meddling with US officials’ interactions with Taiwan after FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed China’s efforts to discourage US officials from visiting Taiwan. The greatest long-term threat to the US’ information security and intellectual property, as well as its economic vitality, is China’s counterintelligence and economic espionage operations, Wray told a video event at the Hudson Institute in Washington. Beijing is engaged in a highly sophisticated and maligning foreign influence campaign, with methods that include bribery, blackmail and covert deals, he said. Giving an example, Wray said that when a US official
IN THE PIPELINE: The Ministry of National Defense said the sale, expected to take effect in one month, would be the seventh arms sale under the Trump administration The government yesterday thanked the US for approving the possible sale of a US$620 million missile repair and recertification package to Taiwan. The US Department of State has approved the sale of a package to recertify Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington for an estimated US$620 million, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release on Thursday. The agency has delivered the required certification to the US Congress, notifying it of the possible sale, it added. The TECRO had requested to buy an upgrade package that would support an operational
RSS