The Ministry of Education yesterday said that it respected any decisions made by local governments on the controversial high-school admissions examination system.
The ministry reiterated the statement following similar remarks made by Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) on Sunday at a forum on the system, which is part of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 12-year national education policy.
The system, which began in June, features a national examination aimed at determining students’ academic proficiency and a second, special entrance exam, along with what critics call complicated rules for students to select their preferred high schools.
Photo: CNA
It was criticized by parents after the first national exam, which created widespread confusion over the scoring system and the implications of different grades for the high schools their children could select.
The system has also been criticized by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), both Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members.
Chu fired the first shots at the system on Thursday last week, announcing that his city would scrap the special entrance exam beginning next year in a significant departure from central government policy.
He criticized the much-maligned new system, describing it as erratic and crediting it with causing “great misery” for students and parents.
The system has left many frustrated due to confusing rules for students to select their preferred high schools. In the Greater Taipei area, criticisms also focused on the weight given to the essay portion of the June entrance exam.
If high-school applicants are not accepted by their first-choice schools after the test, they can take the special entrance exam that emphasizes certain subjects.
A third chance at selection allows students still unhappy with their options to draw up a new list of preferred schools based on the scores from the original entrance exam, but the entire process can take as long as two months.
Wu told Sunday’s forum that the admission process should be shorter to protect students and their parents from stress related to uncertainty about where students can apply and be enrolled.
At the event, the ministry presented several possible ways to improve the system, including a “one exam, two uses” proposal, which employs scores from one exam used as an enrollment gauge in various ways.
However, the proposal received differing definitions from education officials and some city and county administrators who attended the meeting.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS