The new "Diversified College Enrollment Scheme" has drawn a fair amount of criticism. But I have discovered that most people are not opposed to the ideals of the scheme. Rather, they distrust those who are in charge of it.
Many parents, professors, legislators and other professionals are among those who oppose the scheme. I'd like to ask them: "Can you be impartial and unselfish in the way you treat your children, students, voters or clients?" If they think it's easy for them to be fair, why are they questioning others' ability to do so? If they can't be fair, then Taiwan has completely lost any capacity for integrity and trust. This is not something we can resolve by simply bringing back the Joint College Entrance Examination (JCEE).
If society is really full of self-serving professors, teachers who tamper with their students' grades, lawmakers who write false recommendation letters and local borough chiefs who issue fake community service certificates, we should
consider whether this is perhaps a result of the centuries-old examination system, which ignored the cultivation of human character. If that is the case, it's surely the best reason for abolishing the JCEE.
In fact, the abolition of the JCEE was a necessary step in the process of correcting the confused values of the people and returning to a humanistic education.
The crucial thing is to stop judging people solely by test scores. More important criteria that highlight each individual's talents should be taken into account in the school admission process, so that each person can fully demonstrate his or her abilities. Only when this happens will upright people stand out among their fellows. This is also how we can push the education sector to offer "humanistic education" that upholds the diversity of values.
If we entirely ignore the examination of one's character in the recruitment of students, the cultivation of character will never become the core of domestic education. It will never be valued by the people of Taiwan either. Doesn't our deplorable lack of impartial and unselfish senior government officials prove precisely that the JCEE was seriously flawed?
Those opposed to the multiple enrollment scheme often claim that it will deny schooling to disadvantaged children who can't afford to take extracurricular lessons such as piano or violin lessons. This view reflects an inability to put the JCEE behind us. In fact, the popularity of cram schools was the most egregious consequence of the JCEE.
Leaving aside questions about the value of attending cram schools, those who used to pay to attend mathematics and English-language cram schools are now paying even more to attend the talent schools. For those who are poorer, the unfairness has existed ever since the JCEE era.
Besides, a core value of a humanistic education would be to reduce the value of, and the need for, cram schools.
To achieve this, we must on the one hand emphasize the importance of comprehension and analytical abilities by changing the content of academic examina-tions. On the other hand, we must allow each individual more opportunity to display his or her personal characteristics, so that people with different backgrounds can realize their potential in different ways.
Compared to the JCEE, in which only the test scores count, the diversified enrollment scheme, which provides an opportunity to examine and take into consideration a student's upbringing, better serves the interests of disadvantaged groups. Not only does it give them more opportunities in terms of school admission, but it also enables them to develop themselves in accordance with their strengths.
As the saying goes, "Habits become second nature" (
I think we all basically agree that the scheme itself is not the problem. The problem actually lies in the values and moral conduct of the people of Taiwan.
The controversy shows that only when a humanistic education system is developed can the problem we now face be gradually eliminated.
Andrew Huang is president of the Koo Foundation Sun Yat-sen Cancer Center.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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