The National Academy for Educational Research (NAER) on Saturday warned publishers against using textbooks that it has not explicitly approved, prompting criticism from opposition lawmakers, who said the academy’s approach was reminiscent of crackdowns on freedom of expression during the White Terror era.
The academy said that using textbooks it has not sanctioned would be in defiance of the Regulations on the Review and Approval of Senior-High School Textbooks (高級中等學校教科用書審定辦法).
The issue stems from controversy sparked by the Ministry of Education in January last year which made “minor adjustments” to the high-school curriculum guidelines for history, civic and social studies, Chinese and geography.
Photo: CNA
The adjustments resulted in protests by civic groups, high-school teachers and academics, who called the changes an attempt by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to “de-Taiwanize and Sinicize” the nation’s education system.
The Taiwan Association for Human Rights challenged the changes in court. Although the Taipei High Administrative Court in February ruled against the ministry’s decision to implement the adjustments, the ministry went ahead with them.
The NAER on Saturday showed six major publishers’ textbooks that had been revised according to the latest guidelines, with NAER director Yang Kuo-yang (楊國揚) saying that textbook publishers would be going against regulations if they provided high-school teachers with previous versions of the textbooks.
Yang said Article 16 of the regulations stipulates that textbook providers cannot provide schools with unapproved books that have not passed academy inspections.
In response, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislators Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) and Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) said the NAER’s announcement was tantamount to “a threat on book providers to revoke their permits for unilaterally changing the content of approved textbooks.”
Textbooks published prior to the curriculum changes are still valid and the ministry should respect the rights of students to choose their own textbooks, Chen said, adding that threatening to revoke providers’ permits after a consensus by the majority has been reached were tactics used in the White Terror era.
“It is total repression of free speech,” Chen said. “Has the academy become a dictatorship that controls what people should and should not think?”
Chen added that the curriculum adjustments had confirmed people’s worst fears, as some publishers had deleted passages detailing the White Terror era and the martyrdom of freedom advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕).
“The adjustments and the ultimate goal of the Ministry of Education is to slowly establish textbooks that adhere to the historical views of the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” Chen said.
KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) said that further discussions over the issue should be held, adding that priority should be placed on passages that civic groups felt were controversial and should not be included in national examinations.
In response to lawmakers’ remarks that previous versions of textbooks are still valid, Yang cited Article 23 of the same regulation, which stipulates that applications for permit extensions for modified textbooks that are approved must follow the original permit until its date of expiration and the NAER would not issue another permit. However, as the NAER has clearly stated that all providers should use the new versions of textbooks, permits can be revoked, depending on the severity of the providers’ infraction of the law.
Taiwan Association of Human Rights lawyer Tu Yu-yin (涂予尹), however, said that it would not be illegal for publishers to provide textbooks that have passed previous inspections, adding that the NAER should not seek to distort the law in an effort to intimidate schools, teachers, students and parents.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS