Though a suggestion made by Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) on Monday to disband an ad hoc advisory group, formed to facilitate the implementation of educational reform, has drawn much criticism, several educators interviewed by the Taipei Times yesterday agreed with Tzeng's view.
Some educators said the committee has no legal authority. Others said they believe the task force hampers the ministry's ability to implement its policies.
"The establishment of the task force was well-intentioned, but [Tzeng's] attack could have been foreseen due to the task force's ambiguous status in government and its lack of specific goals," said Wang Jenn-wu (
The advisory group in question is the Educational Reform Task Force (
On Monday, Tzeng created a stir when he said the ad hoc committee should be dispersed because its existence had not assisted educational reform, but had rather impeded the ministry's ability to implement policy.
Not intimidated by the public outcry, Tzeng yesterday continued to elaborate on his ideas, saying that the Ministry of Education should be the only body to carry out educational policy. "Why is [the ministry] restrained by another group?" he asked.
In response, Wang said he was not surprised at such criticism due to the committee's unclear position in the governmental hierarchy.
Chen Hui-chin (
"The formation of the committee had no basis in law, so how can you expect it to accomplish anything if the group is not backed by any law?" asked Chen.
Another educational reformer Yang Wei-che (楊維哲), a mathematics professor at National Taiwan University told the Taipei Times that educational reform was such a complex undertaking that no one could expect a special task force to solve all the problems associated with it.
"The main focus of any educational reform should be the students and teachers. I am not denying the contributions made by the task force in the past, but I don't think it can be of value in improving the quality of our education," said Yang.
Pan Jung-li (
"The committee is just like the `father of the emperor' (太上皇) of the ministry, exercising supreme power. It is not possible for education ministers to accomplish much if they have to depend on the whims of committee members," Pan said.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
RSS