Minister of Education Wu Ching-chi (吳清基) yesterday urged college students nationwide to review their attitude toward learning after a ministry evaluator criticized students at the nation’s top medical school, calling them undisciplined.
Wu’s remark came after Daisy Hung (洪蘭), director of National Central University’s Graduate Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, said in an article published in the Chinese-language CommonWealth magazine recently that during a ministry inspection trip at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) College of Medicine, she saw students arrive late for classes, doze off, eat instant noodles or drumsticks, watch TV on their laptops or send text messages to their friends during class.
Hung, an NTU alumni, said she was very surprised to find that the students did not respect their classmates or the teachers.
“With college student attitudes like these, how are we going to compete with others?” Hung said in the article. “If you don’t want to study hard, why not yield the opportunity of learning to other people who really want to learn?”
Offering support to the criticism made by Hung, Wu said many professors had complained that students in Taiwan had become less hard-working, with the majority of students staying up late and deliberately not attending classes early in the morning.
Wu said college students in Taiwan should cherish the opportunity to learn since the government has spent a large amount of money funding higher education.
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19