The president of the nation’s top university yesterday conceded that a poor attitude to learning was common among Taiwanese students.
Approached for comment after National Taiwan University’s (NTU) 81st anniversary ceremony yesterday, NTU president Lee Si-chen (李嗣涔) said he accepted National Central University (NCU) professor Daisy Hung’s (洪蘭) criticism of NTU students because what Hung highlighted was a common phenomenon among students.
Hung, director of NCU’s Graduate Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, said in an article published recently that during an inspection visit at NTU’s College of Medicine, she saw students arriving late for class, dozing off, eating instant noodles or drumsticks, watching TV on their laptops or sending text messages during class.
Huang, an NTU alumni, said she was surprised to find that students did not respect their classmates or teachers during class.
Minister of Education Wu Ching-chi (吳清基) echoed Hung’s criticism and urged college students nationwide to review their learning attitude.
Lee yesterday called on students at NTU to reflect on their behavior and take the criticism rationally.
Lee said he understood expectations that NTU students perform better now that the school has made the top 100 list of global universities.
While Lee was addressing the ceremony, a number of students in attendance were caught on camera dozing off, having breakfast, playing games on their cellphones or reading comic books.
Some of the students argued afterward that they were too tired to stay awake because they had been preparing for midterm examinations.
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