Within Taiwan’s education system exists a long-standing and deep-rooted culture of falsification. In the past month, a large number of “ghost signatures” — signatures using the names of deceased people — appeared on recall petitions submitted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) against Democratic Progressive Party legislators Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶). An investigation revealed a high degree of overlap between the deceased signatories and the KMT’s membership roster. It also showed that documents had been forged. However, that culture of cheating and fabrication did not just appear out of thin air — it is linked to the education system.
A class secretary at a school posted a photograph on social media that contained a notice from the school’s academic affairs office. That photo perfectly encapsulated the campus’ culture of falsification. The notice required that the class secretary focus on three items.
First, records for what students study as part of their flexible course content must not include core subjects, such as Chinese, English, mathematics, physics and social studies.
Second, exam papers for the courses cannot be referred to as tests, but must instead be called “assessments” or “reviews.”
Third, if an exam is arranged during the morning self-study period, teachers must deceive students by telling them it is only a “practice” exercise.
An angry face emoji was posted underneath the notice, with the class secretary saying: “Even the class secretary has to participate in the deception.”
That shows a serious issue in Taiwan’s education system. When education departments inspect schools, they only review written materials. Thus, to pass inspections, school administrations do not encourage teachers to instruct students in accordance with regulations. Instead, they teach students to falsify records to meet superficial requirements.
Flexible courses were designed to help students develop skill sets outside of core subjects, such as through life-oriented games, practicing self-expression, scientific readings and so on. However, they have been reduced to nothing but a tool to catch up on the curriculum. Schools condone this behavior, even providing guidance on how to avoid oversight by using misleading language.
That culture of cheating has a profound impact on students, teaching them that appearance is more important than substance. Such practices normalize deception and dishonesty, leading students to believe they will succeed as long as they do not get caught. That kind of activity ultimately destroys the foundation of integrity, turning schools into training grounds for dishonesty and fraud.
Once students leave school and start working, they would likely continue that pattern of thinking and behavior. If students learn to forge documents in school, they might even falsify financial reports or fabricate government data. It is a dangerous and slippery slope.
The forgeries in the KMT’s recall efforts could very well be an extension of that culture. When a person is taught from a young age that “getting by” takes priority over the truth, how can we expect them to become honest and principled adults?
The culture of academic dishonesty on school campuses and the forging of recall petition signatures are a reflection of the same social pathology. If the root cause is not addressed, Taiwan’s education system would continue to cultivate citizens who excel at playing word games rather than substantively solving problems, which would greatly undermine the foundation of integrity in society. Just as the disheartened arts and culture representative revealed, the problem already exists — what we need now is not a clever cover-up, but the courage to change.
Lin Cheng-wu is a junior-high school teacher.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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