The Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday rejected a plan by the Taipei County Government to have elementary-school students take three additional English-related classes per week.
Vice Minister of Education Chen Yi-hsing (陳益興) told reporters yesterday afternoon that legal and curriculum experts as well as teachers invited by the ministry to review the plan still had doubts about the project.
The reviewers said the consistency of the nation’s elementary school curriculum should be maintained and that a student’s right to education should not be affected by regional differences, Chen said.
They urged the county government to propose a mechanism to ensure parents and students had the right to choose whether to join the plan since it is experimental, Chen said.
Chen said the county government had only proposed an opinion poll to support its plan, but reviewers would like to see a report on the plan’s expected effect.
The county government should improve its plan and submit it to the ministry again for review, Chen said.
The government sparked controversy after it announced on April 14 that elementary school students would have two extra English classes and an “advanced reading” class each week starting next year.
The county government argued that a survey in March showed that up to 80 percent of county parents supported the plan.
Elementary school students nationwide start English classes in the third grade, with two classes per week.
In Taipei City and Hsinchu, students begin the classes as early as first grade.
The ministry does not ban the practice, but it also does not provide subsidies for these classes.
The county’s Education Bureau said later yesterday that it would take the ministry’s suggestions into consideration, but that the timetable for implementing the new curriculum remained unchanged.
The plan is meant to provide children with more opportunities to practice English and to help them develop more confidence in using the language, the bureau said.
Meanwhile, the Taipei County Teachers Association announced it would take to the streets on Sunday to protest the plan.
“This is a plan that violates our national [elementary school] curriculum guidelines and infringes upon the human rights of children,” said Lee Min-jui (李敏瑞), convener of the demonstration.
National Teachers Association president Liu Chin-hsu (劉欽旭) told a press conference that an opinion poll conducted by the Taipei County Teachers Association showed that as many as 60 percent of the parents did not support the new curriculum.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese