Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) yesterday said he returned to the ministry in the hope of completing the policies he had previously planned.
“Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) asked me to reassume the position because many of the policies I have planned are still in the process of being implemented and time is a bit tight at the moment,” he said after being sworn in.
“The premier says I am responsible for ensuring that the policies are successfully carried out. I know that is a huge responsibility, but I am willing to shoulder that,” he added.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The new 12-year curriculum guidelines, which are to take effect on Aug. 1, are a “big change for students,” he said.
He had planned the details and budgets for new textbooks, facilities and equipment required under the new guidelines and would do his best to work with schools to implement them, he said.
While former deputy minister of education Yao Leeh-ter (姚立德) is to return to teaching at Taipei National Taipei University of Technology, Deputy Minister of Education Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠), who had tendered her resignation on Sunday, would stay on in her position to help with the implementation of the guidelines, he said.
Fan has experience in compulsory education, which is a skill the ministry needs, he added.
Pan had stepped down as education minister less than a year into his term in April last year over controversy surrounding the election of National Taiwan University president Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔).
He had expressed hope that his resignation would end the political manipulations surrounding the issue that were causing “unnecessary stress and burden” to the ministry.
Following his resignation, two more education ministers stepped down over the election, while Kuan was appointed on Tuesday last week.
In response to media queries yesterday whether he felt wronged for having to step down, Pan said he did not feel that way.
“The election involved many controversies, but I felt it was a good thing that the flaws in the election system were exposed,” he said, adding that he had reviewed the system hoping to improve transparency in the election process while protecting university autonomy.
National Federation of Teachers’ Unions director-general Huang Yao-nan (黃耀南) on Sunday said that the new minister must deal with a number of pressing issues, such as the new curriculum guidelines and the transformation of private universities.
“Compared with previous curriculum changes in 2006 and 2010, this year’s changes are more extensive and require more supplementary measures and resources,” Huang said.
Having planned the curriculum guidelines, Pan is familiar with the policy, “but hopefully he would hold his ground and not compromise so easily under political pressure this time,” he added.
National Alliance of Parents Organizations chairman Hsieh Kuo-ching (謝國清) said that teachers and parents’ associations are happy to see Pan return, adding that they hope he would stay in the position until next year.
Hopefully Pan would help ensure a smooth transition for teachers and parents when the new curriculum guidelines take effect, he added.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu, Rachel Lin and Wo Po-hsuan
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
RSS