Educators call for softer policies on hard science

Educators attending a science camp, held at Hsitou (溪頭) in Nantou County, voiced their concern about the negative effect of Taiwan's present education policy,yesterday.

The policy, they said, which excessively stresses the significance of science at school, cautioning that over-emphasizing the hard sciences has led to a dangerous nonchalance among students toward social sciences and the arts.

"Our educational policy has long been centered on cultivating the scientific mind," said an insightful statement, sent by an Internet surfer, was projected onto a stage screen at a forum hosted by Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) during his appearance yesterday at the Wu Chien-shiung (吳健雄) Science Camp.

"But if progressive scientific information cannot be utilized by someone with a more rounded perspective, detrimental human behavior, such as polluting the environment or starting another nuclear war, may not be eradicated," the statement said.

"In addition to reinforcing students' scientific prowess, shouldn't educators also impress a sense of humanity onto students' minds?" the statement said.

Participants in the symposium, centered on science education, were not limited to the scholars and educators attending; Internet participants were also invited to offer their opinions.

Tzeng took turns answering questions posed by attendees and Web surfers.

Among other topics, the reflective question about Taiwanese students' lack of human interest, raised by the surfer, generated the most heated discussion.

Many of educators present echoed the view of the Web participant, saying that schools' over-emphasis on science-related subjects only produces a swarm of self-interested students.

They agreed that finding ways to guide students to make use of their scientific knowledge in order to make Taiwan a better place to live -- not to selfishly destroy it -- was an urgent task.

"I absolutely agree," Tzeng said. "There is a pressing need to instill the desire to use science to prevent the further destruction of the environment and to protect human beings from the more deleterious consequences of technology."

"Particularly at a time when technology and science advance at such a speedy pace, human issues and science have to be better integrated," said Tzeng.

"The two fields are closely associated. Taking cloning as an example, there are intricate ethical issues involved."

He suggested that more interdisciplinary programs linking human issues with technology be offered at colleges so students can benefit from being exposed to different academic disciplines, in the hope of stimulating more open thought and creating more well-rounded individuals.

Though the National Science Council (NSC) is known for its role in enhancing the nation's scientific development, Vice Chairman Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆) said they were also aware of the marginalization of the humanities in Taiwan's schools, and had been making gradual adjustments to their policies.

Wu added that since last year the funding provided by the council for humanity-oriented science projects had been dramatically increased, in an effort to elevate the concern for human problems in science students.

Director of the NSC's department of natural science and mathematics, Wang Yu (王瑜), said that a National Science and Technology Conference to take place every four years was set to be held next March, and that the relationship between the human spirit and technological advancement would be one of the main themes at the meeting.