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Protesters condemn removal of photos from student books

"The ministry has certainly exceeded its power by asking for the removal of the pictures."

Chan Cheng-tao, a junior high school teacher

Students and teachers staged a demonstration yesterday outside the Ministry of Education accusing it of pressuring a textbook publisher to remove pictures of demonstrations held to preserve the Losheng Sanatorium.

"No to authoritarian review systems. Defend diversity in education," demonstrators shouted as they protested.

Lee Chia-hsin (李佳欣), a college student at the protest, alleged that the review committee had suggested to Nan-I Books Co -- a textbook publisher -- that it remove pictures of the Losheng Sanatorium protests.

Members of the review committee are selected by the National Institute for Compilation and Translation. Their findings are then sent to the ministry for approval.

The photos of the preservation movement were included in a section on urban development and disputes over preservation of culture in the fourth grade textbook.

"Nan-I followed the committee's suggestion and replaced them with a picture of a newspaper ad calling for the sanatorium's preservation. However, it was again advised to remove the picture," Lee said.

Chan Cheng-tao (詹政道), a member of the National Teachers' Association and a junior high school social studies teacher, condemned the ministry for "crossing the boundaries of textbook review."

"The purpose of having a textbook review is to make sure that the contents strictly follow the curriculum designed by the ministry," Chan told the crowd. "The ministry has certainly exceeded its power by asking for the removal of the pictures."

"The ministry should trust our professionalism in dealing with textbook content and leading an appropriate discussion in the classroom," said Lee Pei-hsin (李佩欣), a National Taiwan Normal University student.

Ministry officials, however, denied the allegations.

"We didn't pressure the publisher -- we always leave it to the review committee members and the publisher to discuss textbook content," deputy director Cheng Lai-chang (證來長) of the Department of Elementary Education told the protesters.

Cheng said that the review committee made the suggestion about the pictures because they show "protest as the only way to resolve a controversy" and "omitted other conflict resolution methods such as public hearings, lobbying and so on."

While suggestions were made, Cheng said, "It's up to the publisher to decide what to do."
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