The Ministry of Education (MOE) said it would allow the Taipei County Government to implement extra English classes in its elementary schools on a trial basis in the next four years, Vice Minister of Education Chen Yi-hsing (陳益興) said yesterday.
Chen said the agreement came after the county government promised to respect the choice of students and parents.
Yang Chang-yu (楊昌裕), director of the ministry’s Department of Elementary Education, said the county government defined the classes as “experimental curriculum” and promised not to pressure students and parents who decide not to participate in the classes.
The county government also pledged not to allow teachers to teach material from regular English textbooks during the extra classes, to protect the rights of students who choose not to take the classes, Yang said.
The ministry had initially rejected on May 13 a plan by the county government to introduce three additional English-related classes per week to elementary schools in the next academic year.
Reviewers at the ministry had said the elementary school curriculum should be maintained and that a student’s right to education should not be affected by regional differences.
Yang said yesterday the county government had revised the plan in accordance with reviewers’ opinions, adding that the county government had the authority to conduct educational experiments as stipulated by the Basic Education Act (教育基本法).
The county’s Education Bureau Director Liu Ho-jen (劉和然) said elementary school students would have three extra English-related classes per week, including two “international culture” sessions and one “advanced reading” class.
About 240,000 elementary school students are expected to benefit from the classes and develop their competitiveness, Liu said, adding that students could make their own decision after taking the classes for a few weeks.
Liu said the county would need an additional 200 English teachers for the program.
The county government’s plan previously drew criticism from the National Teachers Association (NTA), which argued that the classes violated elementary curriculum guidelines and infringed upon children’s rights.
NTA Teaching Research Department director Wu Chung-tai (吳忠泰) accused the ministry of “compromising” and called it unprofessional.
Wu said elementary schools students are required to take 7,440 sessions from the first to the sixth grades, significantly more than the 5,016 classes for Finnish students and 5,645 for Japanese students.
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