The Ministry of Education has come under criticism for not revealing the names of the schools it found to have signed agreements with Chinese institutes to censor course material.
The ministry on Friday said it concluded an investigation into universities that have signed such documents with Chinese institutions, which found that 72 of the nation’s 157 tertiary institutions have signed agreements with their Chinese counterparts since cross-strait academic exchanges began in 2005.
The documents come in a variety of formats, with some adhering to the principles of academic freedom, some promising Chinese universities that courses would not touch on political issues, and others saying that the concept of “one China, one Taiwan” would be cut from course material, the ministry said.
National Taiwan University (NTU) sociology professor Fan Yun (范雲), who launched a petition to honor academic freedom after the documents surfaced, on Saturday said that the agreements signed by the universities to censor content should be elucidated and examined.
“Is NTU one of the 72 schools? Should we just keep guessing?” Fan asked.
She said the ministry’s failure to name the schools would only cause the public to doubt the ministry’s sincerity in addressing the issue.
Fan said she was not seeking punishment for the schools, adding that regardless of who was responsible for the agreements’ contents, the documents must be made public for the protection of academic freedom.
Taiwan Higher Education Union secretary-general Chen Cheng-liang (陳政亮) said that Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) earlier this month described the signing of the documents as “illegal” when Shih Hsin University was the only school known to have signed such an agreement.
The ministry had to backtrack after more schools were exposed, as it could not levy punishments against the presidents of all of the implicated schools, Chen said.
“They escalated the issue only to softly let it down,” Chen said, adding that Pan’s talk of taking action was “useless.”
Chen said the ministry harmed academic freedom in its “soft approach” to the issue, adding that the ministry, in effect, tacitly approved the universities’ actions.
It seems “any action is acceptable if it increases enrollment,” Chen said.
Chen Pang-an (陳邦安), head of student group Yellqing at Chinese Culture University in Taipei, criticized the ministry’s lack of resolve in levying punishment to the schools, saying that university presidents must be “beside themselves with joy.”
Chen Pang-an also criticized Pan for accusing the media of blowing the issue out of proportion.
“The failure to stand firm at a critical moment proves that Taiwanese officials have no courage,” Chen Pang-an said, adding that the group was disappointed in Pan and the Democratic Progressive Party.
Chen Pang-an said it is imperative that the list of universities and the content of the agreements they signed be made public, adding that the schools must be held responsible for signing the agreements.
“Why should the ministry help the schools? Did the two sides have some kind of arrangement?” Chen Pang-an asked.
Former National Tsing Hua University Students’ Association president Hsu Guangcheng (徐光成) said the details of the agreements must be made public to “allow the public to examine and discuss their contents, to understand the boundaries of student exchanges with China.”
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS