Youth not fit to compete
It is extremely worrying indeed that way too many Taiwanese youths are becoming nothing but a bunch of unfit, obese, unmotivated and lazy couch potatoes, while by contrast their average Chinese counterparts are not only much fitter physically, but also intellectually and knowledge-wise much more prepared to study in Western Universities, especially the best ones.
But why?
Taiwanese students feel totally alienated in a school system that imposes on them truckloads of work which they rightly regard as dull, boring, irrelevant and useless. As a consequence, since the Taiwanese society seems to do its best to actively discourage sports, PE and other formative activities, these youths have no choice but to seek some solace and escapism in junk food shops and restaurants, PC games, videogames, arcades and other activities that cannot really be regarded as constructive. In a few words, the Taiwanese school system is needlessly producing thousands of would be social rejects.
To tackle this problem, I would like to put forward a few humble suggestions.
One, there is no doubt that students' workload must be significantly reduced -- remember the old proverb "all play and no work makes Jack a mere toy, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?"
Also, it must be made relevant to them. For instance, I remember once speaking to some students from a vocational school for design, and they bitterly complained that Chinese literature had much more weight in their syllabus than design, draftmanship and other technical subjects, and that an essential tool like computer aided design (CAD) was not even on the syllabus.
Two, much more emphasis needs to be put on encouraging critical, original and creative thinking.
Three, much more emphasis must go on developing those skills (like creative, social, interpersonal, organizational, communication, you name them) that will be so badly needed once students leave school and start facing the real world and its challenges.
Four, much, much more emphasis has to be laid on sports, PE and martial arts. For example, a lot of South Korean schools make sure that taekwondo, their own indigenous martial art, is included in their PE syllabus.
Now, since today's Taiwanese kids and adolescents are supposed to be tomorrow's soldiers and defenders of the country -- who will fight off a much anticipated Chinese invasion -- it only makes sense that physical fitness and martial arts must be an integral part of their skills.
George Dukes
Sunderland,UK
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