Liberty Times (LT): When did you begin to be concerned with the issue of the curriculum guidelines?
Hsu Kuan-tse (許冠澤): One of the civics teachers at Yucheng High School is a member of the Civics Teachers Action Alliance and was one of the first campaigners to participate in the anti-curriculum changes movement last year. This teacher knew I was interested in social issues and would often chat with me.
Initially, I was not interested, then earlier this year I saw in the news that National Taichung First Senior High School had “fired the first shot.”
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
I thought that if students in central Taiwan have come forward on the issue, what excuse do students in northern Taiwan have for not supporting them, when we have more resources and our schools are that much closer [in terms of location] to the Ministry of Education?
When students from Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School and National Hsinchu Senior High School started linking up their protests, I looked on Facebook for high-school student associations that were taking part in the protest and expressed my interest in joining the movement against adjustments to high-school curriculum guidelines.
The rank-and-file were at the beginning disorganized like a dish of loose sand until [Northern Taiwan Anti-Curriculum Changes Alliance convener] Chu Chen (朱震) posted a notice online about a meeting. I remember the meeting was on June 6. Most people did not even know what was on the agenda, but I thought it was an opportunity to at least meet like-minded people, and decided to go.
About 20 showed up, mostly from northern Taiwan, but several came from Hsinchu County.
We thrashed out a list of demands in the meeting, such as that the ministry must reject the curriculum guidelines, that the making of curriculum guidelines must follow the law through a transparent and democratic process, and that its contents must be pluralistic, objective and professional.
Although we were from different schools, the discussions brought us together as friends over time. They also allowed us to organize actions such as surrounding the ministry’s K12 Education Administration on July 5 and many others.
LT: Why did you choose to walk around the nation for the movement?
Hsu: I traveled throughout the nation on foot in my third year of junior-high school and learned first-hand how beautiful Taiwan is. I enjoyed the quietness of walking alone on the provincial highways and looked forward to doing it again some day.
When we protested at the K12 Education Administration building, Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) said that “being loud does not mean you won.”
Those were fighting words, so I thought to myself: “Well, a walk across the nation ought to be considered a peaceful form of expression, right?”
Using a written proposal, I pitched the idea during a meeting, saying I could cover my own travel expenses.
I asked if I could have the Northern Taiwan Anti-Curriculum Changes Alliance’s official endorsement and let me represent it on my nationwide walk. I was afraid of getting shot down, but instead I received enthusiastic support from my fellow students.
They sent me off on the morning of July 23. The day before, I had a big fight with my father about the walk.
I remember [before my departure the following morning], I was sleeping on the lawn of Zhongshan S Road’s traffic island that night [as part of the student protest]. When I opened my eyes in the morning, I saw my father smiling at me and asking whether I had eaten breakfast. There were a lot of people protesting outside the ministry complex and I could not figure out how he found me. I was so touched.
Talking about it makes me want to cry every time.
LT: What did the walk accomplish?
Hsu: We met a lot of people of all ages who did not know about the curriculum guidelines issue. I explained how the guideline adjustments came out of a secretive approval process and how it was not objective.
Most folks responded well and often volunteered to help us. Many joined us on Facebook. I saw on Facebook that their posts used to be more interested in the “little pleasures” — food, travel, having fun — but after our chats, they began to share news about the curriculum guidelines and social issues on Facebook.
I think that if we managed to interest people who were indifferent about politics to become informed and even to participate, then I would say that was my biggest achievement.
The curriculum guidelines are crucial to textbook writing for elementary schools, junior-high schools and senior-high schools. Academics, teachers and students should come together to fully participate in the drafting of the curriculum guidelines over an adequate period of time.
Instead, the ministry rolled out the guidelines in just three or four months.
The so-called “curriculum adjustment committee” is an entity that did not exist in the past, when minor adjustments to the guidelines were made legally.
The most controversial portion of the so-called “minor adjustments” is the history curriculum guidelines. The 10 members on the committee did not have a single Taiwanese history expert. Why would the ministry recruit those people?
It is not hard to imagine why: The overwhelming majority of the committee members were proponents of unification with China and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) aides. How can people like this come up with guidelines that are professional and objective?
When I talked to people at tourist attractions, I always asked: “Are you Chinese or Taiwanese?”
The overwhelming majority said: “I am Taiwanese.”
Then what curriculum guidelines do we want, Taiwan-centric or China-centric? This is not a controversial question.
LT: Is there anything on your mind that you want to say after completing the walk?
Hsu: In our educational institutions, people still believe that studying is the only thing students should do.
I would like to say that while hitting the books is important, students should pay closer attention to the issues of the day. The better your grades, the more you should engage in social issues and help improve our society.
I want to say to parents that they should not oppose children who dare to stand up for their beliefs; it takes great courage for the powerless to resist the powerful.
The idea that we were used or manipulated is nonsense. A lot of people want to direct our movement into a political fight between pan-blues and pan-greens. I hope people will transcend partisan modes of thinking. We are focused on the issues themselves, not people or political camps. We will not give anyone a free pass.
I would like to say to politicians and officials that their power is derived from the people. Please do not treat our opinions like hot air if you are elected.
I would like to remind Minister Wu that his integrity is on the line.
When I said I was going to walk the nation for the appeal, I did what I said, though it was not easy. However, the minister promised my fellow students on Aug. 3 that he would release the names of the committee members. Why has he not done so?
In my mind, Minister Wu appears to be an affable man. Maybe Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was right to say that Wu was just a political hitman doing what he was told by higher powers.
Finally, I would like to say that I want to grow up faster and I hope all my friends in the movement can too.
When we become adults, there will be people who want to take the places of the current crop of politicians.
Minister Wu should mark my words: When that day comes, we will do better than they have.
Translated by Jonathan Chin
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