Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) on Monday, in a closed-door meeting with city and county education heads, came under fire for pressuring elementary, junior-high and high schools to require students to sing the national anthem more frequently.
Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) confirmed that Wu had last month told the meeting’s participants that students should sing the national anthem more often and that schools in their jurisdictions should hold a flag-raising ceremony and have students sing the national anthem during this year’s commencement services, adding that Wu’s suggestion was “only a reminder from the ministry, not the meeting’s agenda.”
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was concerned with the practices concerning the national anthem at grade schools, sources said, adding that the Ministry of Education compiled a report on this issue for Ma.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) drew parallels between the incident and Ma’s supposed role in the controversial changes to textbook curriculum guidelines, saying: “The problem is not whether the national anthem should be sung on campus, but whether the president can overtly interfere with education for political ends.”
The ministry’s changes to curriculum guidelines, which were protested by high-school students last year, were criticized by opponents as China-centric, opaque and marred by procedural irregularities.
“The practice of compelling students to sing the national anthem is feudal and authoritarian,” Humanist Education Foundation executive director Joanna Feng (馮喬蘭) said. “The national anthem’s lyrics were originally written as the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] anthem and they are out of touch with the feelings and beliefs of modern Taiwanese.”
National Alliance of Parents’ Organizations chairman Wu Fu-pin (吳福濱) called on president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) incoming administration to change the lyrics, adding: “Taiwan is a democracy now.”
Raising the flag at morning gatherings and other school events was a daily ritual in Taiwan’s elementary, junior-high and high schools, during which students were required to sing the national anthem and the national flag anthem.
However, emphasis on the ritual began to fade in the 1990s and schools now tend to limit the frequency of morning meetings — and therefore the singing of the national anthem — to less than three times per week, with a majority of schools favoring weekly morning meetings.
Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School holds two morning meetings per week and flag-raising is performed during the commencement ceremony only if the weather is fair.
National Taichung Senior High School principal Chen Mu-chu (陳木柱) said that his school requires the students to sing the national anthem in the weekly morning meetings, adding: “The emphasis of the national anthem is on ‘national.’”
Kaohsiung Municipal Senior High School principal Hsieh Wen-pin (謝文斌) said that his students had not sung the anthem in morning meetings since 2013, when he became the principal.
Hsu Yin-hao (徐胤豪), a student at Kaohsiung Municipal Senior High School and a campaigner in the protest against the changes to textbook curriculum guidelines, said that when the national anthem was played at an athletic event last year, he decided to sing the lyrics selectively, omitting all references to “our party,” or the KMT.
National Federation of Teachers’ Unions president Chang Hsu-cheng (張旭政) said that he believes singing the national anthem has become “a mere formality,” adding: “Patriotism is better instilled by putting more emphasis on democracy and local [Taiwanese history and culture] education.”
Secondary and Elementary School Principals Association director-general Hsueh Chun-kuang (薛春光) said that he believes anthem singing is “an expression of patriotism” and that he would sing with his students at commencement ceremonies.
Former Taichung Bureau of Education director-general Yen Ching-hsiang (顏慶祥) said that Western nations handle issues of national identity at schools through civic education and that the public should decide how to resolve controversies regarding national anthem lyrics.
“If anthem [lyrics] are to be amended, the amendment process could be used as classroom material for civic education,” he said.
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