More than 200 students from Taiwan and China have teamed up to teach in rural areas in both countries this month in a program designed to model the spirit of Confucius (孔子), the Taiwanese university initiating the event said yesterday.
A total of 211 students from National Taiwan Normal University and 16 Chinese universities, including Peking University and Tsinghua University, are to travel to 26 schools to teach disadvantaged students.
According to National Taiwan Normal University, the students will emulate the spirit of Confucius, who is also reputed to have traveled to many places and who proposed education for all.
They will serve in Taiwan from yesterday until Sunday before traveling to China’s Shaanxi and Qinghai provinces and to the cities of Chongqing, Wuhan and Hangzhou from July 21 to July 29.
“We hope the event, now in its third year, will put the education of love into practice,” said Chang Kuo-en (張國恩), president of the National Taiwan Normal University.
Chang said she hoped the spirit of the volunteers would move students in their rural destinations, so that “maybe in a decade or two, they too will pass on their love to society.”
Hsu Chia-wei, a fine arts student from Taiwan who joined the program last year, said she participated again this year because she hoped to bring a different learning experience to rural children, who often lack teaching resources.
The student teachers will teach regular classes, as well as cultural courses in which they will share experiences of their hometowns and culture with the students.
Xu Yifang, a journalism and communications student from Peking University, said she enrolled in the program because she wanted to learn more about Taiwan.
“I’ve always been interested in Taiwan, which shares the same cultural roots as we do,” said Xu, adding that the event would give her a chance to see not only the big cities of Taiwan, but also its rural areas.
Xu said she would introduce the culture and food of her hometown in Guizhou Province to students in Taitung County.
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