Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday apologized for a recent controversy over the tri-city high school entrance examination and said students who misunderstood the application process would be given a second chance.
The tri-city high school exams, which are used in Taipei, New Taipei City (新北市) and Keelung, were held in May and earlier this month as part of the three city governments’ single-textbook policy, sparked a furor after some students complained about the problematic application process because of “ambiguous admission thresholds.”
In an abrupt change of policy, Hau yesterday announced that students who were not satisfied with the application process could reapply on the Internet, with the city’s Department of Education opening up more than 2,200 vacancies for the new admissions.
“I offer my deepest apologies to students and their parents for technical problems during the application process,” Hau told a press conference at Taipei City Hall. “Of course, an apology is not enough ... We are doing our best to find a solution to the problem.”
Although Hau said administrative punishments would be meted out to the officials responsible, the mayor nevertheless continued to defend the policy, which aims to ease students’ academic burden by designating single-version textbooks at all junior high schools in the three cities.
The announcement came amid growing complaints from students and parents about the application process. Critics slammed the city government for what they said was its failure to offer accurate reference scores for admission and many students failed to get in to target schools because they miscalculated the admission thresholds.
Hau and the education department brushed aside the complaints last month and insisted that no change would be made to this year’s application process.
As a parent of three children, Hau said he was “heartbroken” upon learning of parents’ complaints, adding that he had spent the last two weeks seeking to find the best solution to the problem.
The U-turn attracted criticism from city councilors, who challenged Hau and his team over their flip-flop on a major education policy.
“The city government is treating students as lab rats. Who knows, maybe the policy will be changed again tomorrow,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤) said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said the new plan was a feasible solution, but Lin urged the city government to re-examine the whole mechanism.
Hau denied there was any political motivation behind his decision.
The Presidential Office also dismissed suggestions that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is seeking re-election in January, had pressured the city government into making the U-turn.
Education Department Commissioner Kang Tzong-huu (康宗虎) also apologized over the mishap, but said the city government had no plans to change the procedures next year.
Students have been asked to fill out an application form online on Friday and Saturday and to send their application form to their junior high school. The results will be announced on Tuesday.
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