President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has finally acknowledged that the alleged “black box” high-school curriculum changes include more than 100 controversial items, which he should not refuse to drop, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) said yesterday.
Cheng was referring to Ma’s response to Yanping High School student Lin Yen-ting’s (林彥廷) question at the National Taiwan University (NTU) political leader’s camp on Wednesday.
The high-school curriculum, which forms the basis of learning for young students across the nation, should not include any controversial items, much less hundreds, Cheng said, adding that Ma considers the changes — which he had ordered in 2012 — to be his “legacy.”
Ma made the directives in a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Standing Committee meeting in July 2012, Cheng said.
While the Ma administration seemed to have taken a step back in the conflict by saying that both the old and new versions of textbooks could be used and none of the controversial materials will be covered in exams, Cheng said that with the nation’s examination-centric educational style, a lot of the materials on Taiwanese history would be lost, as students would not study what teachers neglect to teach.
Cheng also said that as soon as the license for the old version of textbooks expires, then the new version would be the only version left.
If the changes are not repealed, then it would naturally become the template on which the new curriculum for the 12-year national education takes shape, Cheng said.
Cheng added that the ensuing curriculum would not only be centered on brainwashing the nation’s students, but would be anti-democratic.
Critics say the changes reflect a “Greater China” historical view. They have also criticized the opaque way in which the decisions for the changes were made.
Cheng said that the changes must be dropped and that there could be no other alternative, adding that the DPP would not accept the fake concessions the Ma administration was making.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said that she could not believe that such words could be uttered by the head of state, adding that it was Ma’s intent to sacrifice another generation of students as guinea pigs.
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said the changes went against actual truths and attempted to “de-Taiwanize” young people through brainwashing attempts simply to satisfy the ideologies of people adhering to the “Greater China” historical view.
It is completely unacceptable, Gao said.
Taiwanese students have proven with the Sunflower movement that they would brook no deceit from the government and would not allow the government to reach decisions without full disclosure to the public, Gao said.
The Ministry of Education should immediately drop the controversial changes and apologize to students and teachers across the nation, Gao said.
Typhoon Champi is forecast to turn northward earlier than previously expected, sparing Taiwan a direct hit but still bringing heavy rain to the north of the country on Friday and Saturday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Typhoon Champi had strengthened and increased in size over the past 12 hours, and as of yesterday afternoon, was packing sustained winds of 198kph near its center, CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said. However, due to the weakening of a Pacific high-pressure system the storm is now expected to turn northward earlier than initially forecast, likely around Japan’s Ishigaki Island, Cheng said. As Champi brushes
MAYORAL RACE: Su Chiao-hui made gains by persuading undecided voters and winning over voters in KMT-leaning districts, a pollster said Legislator Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate for New Taipei City mayor, has a 13.1 percentage point lead over her Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival Lee Shu-chuan (李四川), a poll released yesterday showed. The poll, commissioned by the Taipei Trust in Democracy Association, showed that 43.1 percent of respondents said they would vote for Su, up 7.9 percentage points from a poll conducted in late August, while support for Lee was at 30 percent, down 4.7 percentage points. It showed that 48.6 percent of respondents thought Su would make a suitable mayor, compared with 35.9 percent for Lee. Independent candidate
A Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy aircraft carrier group was being monitored after entering the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense said today, after Beijing yesterday criticized Taiwan for using a water cannon against a Chinese fishing boat near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). A Chinese naval task group led by the aircraft carrier Liaoning (遼寧) yesterday sailed to the western Pacific for training, Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the PLA Navy as saying. “The drill is part of the annual routine training plan aimed at testing and improving the troops’ combat readiness and enhancing their ability to
Pulled aside onto the balcony of an empty hotel room by Chinese state security officers, a Taiwanese tourist on a trip to Tibet described facing an unnerving barrage of questions about his military background and political loyalties. The man surnamed Lin (林) reported his experience in a viral post on Threads before accepting an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) yesterday. Lin, who works as a nurse, told CNA that he knew some Taiwanese had run afoul of Chinese law enforcement, but he thought he would be safe, as he did not post much about his personal political views online. It came
RSS