The Taipei City Department of Education yesterday defended its efforts to prepare for the implementation of a 12-year compulsory education system and denied it was pushing ahead with the plan without discussing it first with the Ministry of Education (MOE).
Extending compulsory education from nine years to 12 years nationwide is a major policy initiative by the ministry that is scheduled for implementation in 2014.
The issue drew public attention after Taipei City Department of Education Commissioner Ting Ya-wen (丁亞雯) on Monday said at a meeting with junior and senior high school principals that the city would launch the program ahead of other cities and counties.
The move reportedly drew the ministry’s ire because the city had not discussed its plans with the ministry. Deputy Minister of Education Chen Yi-hsin (陳益興) allegedly slammed the city government for undermining the ministry’s authority by moving the schedule ahead.
Ting yesterday denied that the city would implement the policy ahead of schedule and said the city was just making preparatory measures for the implementation of the policy, including designing curriculum and standards for evaluating student performance.
“First-year junior high school students will be the first group of students affected by the 12-year compulsory education system and we must change the exam-driven teaching method .... What we want to do is to adjust the curriculum, while following the policy outline set up by the ministry,” she told a press conference at Taipei City Hall yesterday.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) defended Ting at the press conference, saying the city government was well aware of the ministry’s authority, adding that the city had reached a consensus with the ministry on the issue.
Ting, who took over as commissioner last week after her predecessor resigned in the wake of the controversy over the tri-city high school examinations, said the department had discussed its plans with the ministry several times and that Minister of Education Wu Ching-chi (吳清基) had said the ministry was supportive of the plan.
“The department will continue to cooperate with the ministry’s policy and we will be well-prepared to implement the policy,” she said.
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