The questions on future national examinations for civil servants will not reflect examiners' political ideology, nor will they be based on Hoklo, Hakka or Aboriginal languages, the Examination Yuan has decided.
Questions will not discriminate on racial or sexual grounds, nor will they test on classical Chinese composition or literature.
The Control Yuan yesterday ended a year-long controversy surrounding the national examinations for civil servants after the Examination Yuan pledged that future national examinations would be fair and steer clear of bias by following a "four noes" principle reflecting these points.
Examiners will also be advised to note the proportion of Taiwan-centered questions in national geography and history tests.
The Examination Yuan's resolution was reached during a review meeting in September last year and was later approved in a plenary session.
The changes came in response to a controversy over the use of Hoklo-language questions on Chinese literature tests and over the number of Taiwan-centered questions on history and geography tests in four national exams offered last year.
Although the passages in the tests were written in Chinese characters, they make sense only to speakers of Hoklo, more commonly known as Taiwanese.
The questions prompted pan-blue lawmakers, most of whom are of mainland Chinese descent, to claim the exams were biased. The questions also angered the Hakka community, as their language is spoken by one-fifth of the population.
Seeking to placate the Hakka minority, the Examination Yuan adjusted one of the four national examinations by adding points to Hakka candidates' exam scores.
The move came after a visit by former Council for Hakka Affairs Chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan (
Calling such questions unfair and unconstitutional, People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chin Huei-chu (
She also asked the Control Yuan to determine whether it was acceptable that Taiwan's geography and history dominated questions in the tests, since current textbooks do not reflect this focus.
The Control Yuan report released in June called it unfair for the Examination Yuan to test candidates on a particular dialect, and said this had harmed examinees.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS