Minister of Education Huang Jong-tsun (
Since his appointment as education minister in February 2002, Huang, a pioneer of education reform, has had to scramble to deal with the chaotic policies left by former ministers who tried to put reform ideals into practice.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
As soon as he took office, Huang announced that the ministry would not make new short-term policies but would be dedicated to removing policies considered "time bombs."
But Huang's decision to adopt Tongyong Pinyin instead of Hanyu Pinyin, the system used in China, created a feud with the pro-China opposition parties and sparked demands for Huang to step down.
Thanks to Huang's communication skills and flexibility in dealing with crises, these fires were quickly put out.
In order to make clear to the public who had initiated some of the more controversial reform policies, Huang last August invited six former education ministers to collect advice for an education blueprint. The plan was considered an example of Huang using his diplomatic skills to integrate ideas.
Huang's good communication skills are related to his educational and professional background.
Huang earned a doctorate in psychology at National Taiwan University (NTU) and taught at NTU from 1983 to 2000.
Before becoming education minister, Huang was chief of the Taipei Society, an organization of liberal academics and was the director of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Science Council. He also served as a minister without portfolio and was the executive director of the 921 Earthquake Post-Disaster Recovery Commission.
Although he has abundant experience in public administration, he was less familiar with the national education system when he started as minister, said Lu Hsiu-chu (呂秀菊), chairwoman of the National Teachers' Association.
Lu said Huang was sincere about reform but has little resolve to carry out his promises.
"I think Minister Huang is quite open-minded and democratic when it comes to suggestions and criticism from all circles, but he seemed to lack the mettle and resolution to implement reform effectively," she said.
Although Huang was inundated with criticism over education reform and was considered likely to step down when the Cabinet is reshuffled in two weeks, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Lo Chih-ming (
"As far as I know, Huang has similar ideas to Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) in implementing education reform and development," Lo said. "I think Huang will continue to be the education minister unless Lee considers Huang to be incompetent."
From 1994 to 1996, Huang was a member of the Cabinet's education reform committee led by Lee and also worked with Lee in the 921 Earthquake Post-Disaster Recovery Commission.
Huang often defended Lee when opposition lawmakers tried to shift the blame for the chaotic education system to Lee by stating that it was unfair to attribute responsibility to any one individual.
Compared with former education ministers Wu Jin (
"Huang often chose not to fight with legislators and dealt with the policies that the opposition party boycotted in a roundabout way," Lo said. "He is good at seeing what people are thinking and avoiding conflicts. Perhaps it's because he was a certified psychologist."
"I think Huang has developed a better grasp of education issues," Lo said. "He has put policies on the right track and the ministry will do a better job under the supervision of lawmakers and pressure groups," Lo said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching