New Minister of Education Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) yesterday said he would communicate with National Taiwan University (NTU) within the next two months with the goal to resolve the controversy surrounding the school’s presidential election.
Yeh yesterday took office as the education minister at a handover ceremony in Taipei that was presided over by Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-yi (林萬億).
At the ceremony, Yeh said his priorities are to resolve the NTU controversy and finish curriculum guidelines for the 12-year education system, which is to be implemented next year.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The ministry on April 27 decided not to appoint NTU’s elected candidate, Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔), as the school’s new president on the grounds that there had been a conflict of interest in the election process, instructing the university to hold a new election.
Since then, three administrative appeals have been filed — by NTU students, by the university and by Kuan himself — requesting that the ministry honor the election results and appoint Kuan.
A standoff has existed between the ministry and NTU since the university last month refused to hold another presidential election, he said.
While respecting their decision to file an administrative appeal, Yeh said that such cases typically drag on for years, adding that the university being without a formal president long-term would be damaging to its development.
“I hope that we can find another way to resolve the problem. I will communicate with the university, understanding their needs and the context,” he said.
By being open to dialogue, he hopes to build mutual trust with the school, Yeh added.
The ministry would not leave the nation’s leading university stranded, he said, adding that the university has “many top faculty members and students, and we should ensure that the school continues to be successful.”
“However, this window of communication will not last forever,” he said. “It is important to offer an opportunity, but this will be the only opportunity.”
“The next two months are the best time to resolve this and we must work hard and take advantage of the opportunity,” he added.
Regarding the new curriculum, the ministry plans to complete it before the beginning of the new academic year, he said.
While many had questioned Yeh’s lack of experience in elementary and secondary education, he said he would do his best to learn more about the subject.
“I will work hard on that,” he said. “No matter how much I already know, I will always try to learn more.”
Yeh was earlier this year accused of teaching illegally at China’s Zhejiang University from Dec. 19, 2011, to Jan. 15, 2012, while he worked at NTU.
However, he says he did not break any law, adding that it was a short-term academic exchange for which he was not paid.
When asked whether he received any subsidies for the trip, Yeh said that although he was not paid a salary, he had received subsidies to cover lodging and transportation.
Before taking office, Yeh was the minister of the interior. He was also a professor at National Taiwan University and a minister without portfolio for the Executive Yuan.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS