The nation’s junior high school students spend too much at school at the expense of personal time, a group of educators said yesterday, warning that excess study hours have adverse effects on a student’s cognitive and interpersonal development.
The Humanistic Education Foundation (HEF) yesterday released the results of a poll surveying 1,433 junior high schools students at 229 schools. Of the students, 81 percent spent more than 45 hours at school each week.
That means students put in more hours than the maximum work week set by the Council of Labor Affairs, the foundation said, adding that Taiwanese students spent twice as much time at school than their peers in Europe and the US.
“Prolonged study hours have zero benefits on a student’s ability to learn. Moreover, students have less time for an adequate sleep and leisure activities. The pressure that students face is no different now from what they faced 15 years ago,” HEF president Shih Ying (史英) said.
The foundation advocates a “3-8 plan” in which eight hours of a student’s day are spent on schoolwork and eight on sleeping, leaving another eight for leisure time.
The group also said many schools had unbalanced curriculums, sacrificing electives to make students put more hours into subjects like math and science.
More than 57 percent of the schools polled did not offer a well-rounded curriculum as required by law and at least 76 percent regularly allowed teachers of Chinese, math and English to take time from students’ physical education and art classes for extra lessons.
Mental health expert Teng Hui-wen (鄧惠文) said the junior high school period marks the most formative years for teenagers because it is a crucial time to develop independent and critical thinking.
The “fill-in-the-blanks” teaching method impedes a student’s intellectual growth, Teng said.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS