New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday confirmed that the city would not be holding examinations for the specialty expertise program next year, while Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the capital is also inclined to opt out of the program for the sake of consistency.
Their comments came after Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) yesterday discussed how to amend the 12-year national education program.
The Ministry of Education offered three alternative solutions to allay criticism.
Photo: Lai Hsiao-tung, Taipei Times
The first is to use Comprehensive Assessment Program (CAP) scores for students eligible for the first wave of examination-free slots and the specialty expertise program.
The second calls for turning the specialties examination into a subject-based entry examination.
The third option calls for schools to use CAP scores as the basis for admission, but use subject scores and student preferences to assign students schools.
Specialty expertise programs refer to schools wishing to claim a specialty in certain subjects and admitting students using that specialty. Only 25 percent of all students nationwide are admitted through this method.
New Taipei City Education Bureau chief Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) said it was Taipei that had insisted on holding specialty examinations, not New Taipei City, adding that the municipality discovered after holding the examinations this year that there was no need.
Only seven high schools in the municipality held specialty examinations, with a total admission of 803 students, 302 short of the goal, Lin said.
Since schools cannot admit more students from the second examination-free slots to compensate, the schools would be short 300 students that year, he said.
As many as 94 percent of students in New Taipei City were enrolled by the first examination-free slot, showing that there is no need for specialty examinations in the municipality, Lin said.
Separately, Hau said that he had been speaking with Chu and they would remain in close communication on the matter.
Taipei City Department of Education Director Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said that Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung share a common student pool and the decision of whether to continue specialty examinations should be agreed upon by all three governments.
Lin Yi-hua and Hau called on the central government to make a decision on the general direction for next year’s admission.
Wu said that each county and township had the right to decide their own method of student admissions.
He applauded Chu’s decision and said it was the ministry’s original intent to shorten and simplify the examinations.
The ministry is still discussing how to handle the possibility of multiple counties and townships canceling specialty examinations next year, Wu said, adding that the ministry is also working on how to expedite distribution of students and finish the entire process before July next year.
Meanwhile, the Taoyuan County Government yesterday said that it had agreed in principle last month “not to hold specialty examinations,” but National Neili Senior High School and Dayuan International Senior High School both insisted on maintaining the system.
Additional reporting by CNA
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