Twelve small schools have been successfully "resuscitated" after a year of collaborative work between the Eden Social Welfare Foundation and a magazine publisher to help disadvantaged students in often-ignored areas around the country, a foundation official said yesterday.
The 12 schools -- each of which has less than 100 students -- have not only been sustained but also rejuvenated to create a dynamic environment conducive to learning, foundation director Huang Cho-sung (
artworks
Presenting several art projects and a shadow play by the students, Huang said: "These artworks and achievements are evidence of the school administrations' dedication and creativity in ensuring the best possible and most well-rounded education for their students."
The aim of the collaborative project with Global Views Monthly was to ensure quality education for all students, regardless of location or socio-economic status, he said.
So far, 12 schools in seven counties -- Taipei, Tainan, Hualien, Yunlin, Chiayi, Nantou and Kaohsiung -- have benefited from the program.
Lin Fei-shuan (
In addition to the regular academic curriculum, he said, students have been taught to swim, play badminton, spin a top, ride a unicycle and jump rope.
eco-literate
Another elementary school in Tainan employs an eco-literate curriculum that focuses on teaching and learning about environmental conservation through first-hand contact with local fauna and flora.
Global Views Monthly editor-in-chief Yang Ma-li (楊瑪利) said there are more than 500 mini-schools in rural Taiwan. Without immediate intervention, the wealth disparity between these students and those in the cities would only widen further, Yang said.
The foundation is encouraging more schools to participate in the second wave of the program. Applications are available on the foundation's Web site.
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SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
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