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Renaming of school podiums sparks ruckus in Kaohsiung

Staff Reporter

The Kaohsiung City Government Education Bureau's recent order that schools in Kaohsiung rename ceremonial podiums used in schoolyards came under fire from pan-blue city councilors during a question-and-answer session at the council yesterday.

The bureau filed an administrative order to all schools in Kaohsiung in late March, asking them to stop calling school podiums "Commander's Podiums" (Silingtai, 司令台).

The podiums in schools nationwide have borne the name since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime arrived in Taiwan.

Flag-raising

The podiums are normally used by school principals or teachers to address students after the flag-raising ceremony in the morning.

Kaohsiung City Councilor Lin Kuo-cheng (林國正) of the KMT yesterday criticized bureau director Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) for politicizing education.

"The Bureau of Education is in charge of education policies and administration," Lin said. "Why doesn't it spend more time thinking about how many pupils cannot afford school lunches instead of such trivial things?"

In his defense, Cheng said the podiums located in schoolyards date back to the authoritarian era and are related to the military.

Better environment

"The bureau issued the order mainly in the hope of offering a better educational environment for the next generation," he said.

Cheng said the order did not force schools to remove the name "Commander's Podium," but hoped schools could rename their podiums creatively.

Democratic Progressive Party Kaohsiung City Councilor Cheng Kuang-feng (鄭光峰) lauded Cheng Ying-yao's idea when asked for his opinion yesterday.
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