The National Academy for Education Research should impose more rigorous standards to review textbooks prior to publication, representatives of parents’ associations said yesterday, calling the sex and gender education content of some textbooks age-inappropriate.
“Concepts like a ‘gender spectrum,’ ‘heterosexual hegemony,’ ‘homophobia’ and the Web addresses of homosexual groups should be deleted from textbooks,” said Yang Chun-tsu (楊郡慈), a deputy secretary-general of the National Alliance of Presidents of Parents’ Associations.
Protesters showed copies of textbooks using terminology they opposed.
“Education agencies should pay more attention to what textbooks schools use and ensure parents know the choices ahead of time,” Yang said, adding that parental membership in schools’ gender equality and curriculum development committees should be guaranteed.
While high-school curriculum guidelines only call for teaching “respect for gender diversity,” most textbook publishers have interpreted that as mandating instruction on homosexuality, with most textbooks including related content, protesters said, displaying examples.
“Our values should be reflected in the curriculum, because we are the ones who care the most about our children and we are by their sides the longest,” said Liang Mei-hui (梁美慧), another deputy secretary-general of the association.
“We are not opposed to gender-equality education, but we are opposed to a curriculum that cultivates homosexuality,” National Association of Students’ Parents chairman Chen Tieh-hu (陳鐵虎) said. “Gender equality education has started to include a lot of inappropriate additions we find worrying.”
“Using the term heterosexual hegemony is an offense to heterosexuals,” said Wang Li-sheng (王立昇), who heads the National Alliance of Presidents of Parents’ Associations’ supervisory board.
He added that there had been some progress compared with last year’s textbooks, as content about bisexuality had been removed in response to parents’ complaints.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
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About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
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