President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should set a timeline for and clarify the contents of planned changes to controversial high-school curriculum guidelines, as schools begin their textbook selection processes, civic groups said yesterday, adding that chaos could erupt if changes are announced after Tsai takes office on May 20.
Taiwan Grassroots Education Alliance member Chang Wen-lung (張文隆), a history teacher at New Taipei City Municipal San Min High School, said that Tsai should promise to withdraw the guidelines as soon as she is sworn in on May 20 to clear up possible confusion about her intentions.
“People have serious doubts about the educational policy of the new administration,” Chang said. “[Tsai’s] rhetoric has always been vague, saying that she would address the matter after the presidential election, so if she does not state her stance clearly, it would be unclear what she is hesitating over.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
While Tsai has promised to withdraw the high-school social studies guidelines implemented last year, it is unclear whether the Chinese language and geography portions of the guidelines would be included along with history and civics, Chang said, adding that a timeline for the withdrawal is also unclear.
“We have no idea how long it would take to address history and civics, but if Tsai waits until after textbooks have been chosen and contracts have been signed, continued usage of the guidelines next year would be unavoidable,” he said, adding that while schools have some flexibility over when they choose textbooks, most decisions are made in April and May to allow paperwork to be processed before the summer break.
The Ministry of Education has allowed schools to choose textbooks based on both the old and new sets of guidelines, following controversy over what critics called “China-centric” revisions.
Cheng Chi-jui (鄭啟瑞), a history teacher at New Taipei Municipal Taishan Senior High School, said the continued use of both sets of guidelines doubled the burden of teaching graduates preparing for official exams.
“In addition to familiarizing themselves with the different textbook versions, [teaching graduates] must also keep track of which textbooks are based on the ‘old’ and ‘new’ guidelines, effectively doubling their workload,” he said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) said that while her motion to order the withdrawal of the guidelines had garnered 65 signatures — more than a majority of national legislators — the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) used parliamentary procedures to delay a formal vote until next month by exercising its right to demand “cross-caucus negotiations.”
Cheng called for the ministry to immediately withdraw the guidelines on its own initiative, blasting ministry statements that any withdrawal would leave schools without direction.
The Chinese language and social studies components of curriculum guidelines were withdrawn after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took power in 2008, with the ministry simply ordering schools to follow an earlier set of guidelines, Cheng said.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS