A campus with a rainwater catchment system and a school with blank textbooks impressed ambassadors and representatives from 11 countries as they went on a tour of sustainable schools and eco-campuses earlier this week.
"The rainwater catchment system is an excellent and practical idea. Take the hand pump I see here for example: in my country, we practically always use hand pumps to pump water," said Malawian ambassador Thengo Maloya during the visit to Taipei County Shengkeng Elementary School, whose rainwater catchment system recycles two tonnes of wastewater per day.
PHOTO: MO YAN-CHIH, TAIPEI TIMES
According to Maloya, people with no water in their villages need to travel around to get water in other places. So conserving and reusing water can be really important, the ambassador said.
Organized by the Ministry of Education, the tour was designed to demonstrate the achievements of schools participating in an "education for sustainable development" program.
Aiming to share the success of the program with the diplomats, the ministry invited them to join the trip for the first time since the launch of the tour last year.
The tour took the guests to Taipei County Shengkeng Elementary School and Ci-Xing Waldorf Education School of Ilan County. Both schools participated in the program, which was orchestrated by the Ministry of Education three years ago to create a more eco-friendly learning environment and develop creative curriculums in schools.
Participating ambassadors said they are impressed by how participating schools help students find satisfaction both within themselves and in their relationship with the environment.
"The two schools we visited showed two different educational approaches based on the same idea, which is to cultivate students' global views. I think both approaches help students appreciate the outside world and the self within," said the representative of the Turkish Trade Office, Unut Arik.
Shengkeng Elementary School, one of the 256 schools participating in the program conducted by the Ministry of Education since 1999, has carried out sustainable campus reform plans.
According to school principal Lin Jian-zong (
"We continually develop curriculums that motivate students to explore the environment. Activities like tree planting and inviting local farmers to give lessons successfully brings teachers, students and community members together to not only experience nature, but more importantly, to learn from nature," Lin said.
Tomasz Nowacki, the chief representative/director-general of the Warsaw Trade Office said that it is crucial to motivate students to protect nature voluntarily.
"The development of ecological schools in Poland began in the 1980s. I think environmental education should focus on how to bring out children's willingness to cherish nature," Nowacki said.
In addition to sustaining schools' ecology and energy-saving facilities, another key element of "education for sustainable development" program is reorganizing the traditional curriculum.
Ci-Xing Waldorf Education School, whose educational philosophy is based on the concepts of Rudolf Steiner, a German educator, is the second school the tour visited. It showed the creativity on the design of their curriculum, which is teaching without any textbooks.
According to Ci-Xing's principal Chang Chun-shu (
Jose Miguel Holguin, Prime Secretary of the Dominican Republic's embassy, lauded the philosophy of the school's program.
"The school's education is systematic. By teaching children how to think, instead of what to think, I think students are free to develop their own individualities. I really appreciate their educational philosophy," Holguin said.
Ambassador Francisco Ricardo Santana Berrios of the Republic of El Salvador, also admired the school's effort to provide students with an open learning environment.
"The interaction between teachers and students is impressive. I think through creative classes, such as singing and personal story-sharing, children are given more space to think creatively and freely, Berrios said.
Sandor Matyus, the representative of the Hungarian Trade Office, although appreciating the innovative teaching method, said that the school should pay attention to students' adjustment when they go on to receive higher education.
"I am anxious about the gap between this free-style learning environment and higher education institutions. For example, without a textbook, I fear students may face some reading difficulties when they go to high schools or colleges. This is something the school needs to be careful about," Matyus said.
According to the program designer of the campus reform plans, Su Huey-jen (
Besides, 60.5 percent of city schools began to plant organic products on campus.
Many schools also develop new curriculum to bring out the creativity of students.
She said that since the program has showed some achievements, the next step is to seek collaboration from international community.
Typhoon Champi is forecast to turn northward earlier than previously expected, sparing Taiwan a direct hit but still bringing heavy rain to the north of the country on Friday and Saturday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Typhoon Champi had strengthened and increased in size over the past 12 hours, and as of yesterday afternoon, was packing sustained winds of 198kph near its center, CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said. However, due to the weakening of a Pacific high-pressure system the storm is now expected to turn northward earlier than initially forecast, likely around Japan’s Ishigaki Island, Cheng said. As Champi brushes
A sea warning for Typhoon Champi might be issued tonight, while the storm’s trajectory would determine whether a land warning is to be issued tomorrow night, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Champi was about 1,536km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), packing maximum sustained winds of 198kph, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said. The storm was moving west-northwest at 23kph and was expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours before weakening slightly as it approaches cooler waters east of Taiwan, Tseng said. Champi is expected to turn north tomorrow, with the angle of the
DEFENSE PROCUREMENT: Taiwan could become the largest operator of V-BAT drones outside the US if the contract is finalized, the Ministry of National Defense said The navy and the coast guard reportedly plan to acquire 292 units of MQ-35A V-BAT vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) surveillance drones. If the contract is awarded and finalized, it would make Taiwan one of the largest buyers of the uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the US-based defense technology company Shield AI. The Coast Guard Administration budgeted NT$1.2 billion (US$37.1 million) to buy 12 drones, which have been delivered, Shield AI said in a report on Oct 13. The navy is planning to spend NT$36 billion under a four-year program code-named Project Yuan Hsiao (遠鴞) to acquire 280 V-BAT drones,
A patrol vessel donated by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) to the Philippines would not be used in waters near Taiwan or areas where Taiwanese fishing vessels operate, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. The vessel, formerly the CGA's 500-tonne-class Kinmen (金門), was commissioned into the Philippine Coast Guard on Oct. 2. Speaking at the Legislative Yuan, Cho said the Philippines had pledged during the donation process that the vessel would be used only for designated missions and would not operate in waters related to Taiwan. The vessel could even provide assistance to Taiwan if needed, he added. Responding to questions from Chinese
RSS