A few days ago, it was reported that a written test given by an English teacher at National Chiayi Senior High School had included the question: “President Tsai-englishit made some silly ... in her speech.”
A student, who suspected that the teacher had political motives for insulting the president in the test, reported the issue to the media, setting off heated public debate.
For a long time, education was controlled by the former party-state and, while many teachers claim not to have any political affiliations and not to be interested in politics, their political preferences and values often become clear from what they say.
The state of affairs has always been a fact, but is only rarely discussed in public, so people should be grateful to the student who alerted the media and put the spotlight on the incident.
Students are often told to respect their teachers and their teachings, but it is often forgotten that Taiwan has entered the era of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, which focuses on respecting truth over teachers.
Edward Said, the late public intellectual and professor of literature at Columbia University, defined an intellectual as someone who stands up to authority. The Chiayi high-school student clearly had the courage to do just that.
One can only wonder if the school will do as schools have done, and use its channels to find the student and bring in their parents and an instructor to put unbearable pressure on the student.
I want to tell the student: Fear not. You have the support of many alumni of the school and not only that — people all over Taiwan with a sense of right and wrong, and with civic literacy, support you and your courageous action.
You should know that you are practicing some of the core principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: devotion to the best interests of the child and respect for the views of the child, in addition to the right to public participation. The Ministry of Education’s policies even give you legal protection in this respect.
Over the past couple of days, the school has responded to the media and I do not know if you are satisfied by their response. If you are not, as the nation’s schools are a haven where you can search for the truth, searching for the truth is part of your right to an education, so you can continue to challenge authority and reject the errors committed by authority.
You must never forget the words of philosopher and writer Hu Shih (胡適): “Never say more than you can prove.”
This is also what the schools teach.
Submitting a letter to the media is a response. It is not a matter of destroying the school’s reputation and it should help National Chiayi Senior High School to continue to improve and move forward. Keep it up.
Lin Jui-hsia is director of the Taoshan Humanity and Arts Institute in Chiayi County.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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