A group of high-school and university educators said they would start a campaign to draft their own version of high-school curriculum guidelines following the Ministry of Education’s decision to implement a controversial curriculum adjustment — despite a ruling by the Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday last week against the move.
“We cannot help but draft the curriculum guideline ourselves, as the government is messing [with the curricula],” Action Coalition of Civics Teachers convener Chou Wei-tung (周威同) said, adding that they are joined in the move by the National High School Teachers’ Union and other scholars.
The proposed draft curricula for history, civic and social studies would be completed by the middle of the year, he said.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The coalition had held protest rallies on Feb. 28 last year to oppose what it called the ministry’s non-transparent backroom decisionmaking in making contentious changes to high-school textbooks.
Union spokeswoman Huang Hui-chen (黃惠貞) said their drafting of the history curriculum is not aimed at provoking debate on Taiwan independence or unification, but a means of reclaiming history teachers’ principles and professionalism.
She said that the ministry had amateurs spearhead the curricular adjustment, rather than experts experienced in teaching, and that high-school history teachers are capable of drafting a professional curriculum guideline themselves.
Politics should be kept away from history, she added.
Curriculum guidelines are supposed to be general principles for publishers and teachers to edit textbooks and arrange syllabi, but they have become a set of minute directives dictating textbooks and college entrance exams, Taichung’s Bureau of Education Director-General Yan Ching-hsiang (顏慶祥) said.
He said that politicians are making curricula their tools and teachers their propagandists, reminiscent of a totalitarian regime, adding that the coalition’s initiative to draft alternative curriculum guidelines to counter the ministry’s move was “remarkable.”
Saying the ministry’s curricular adjustments were based on a certain political agenda and ideology, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) said the coalition’s move might introduce civic engagement to the policymaking process.
However, National Alliance of Parents vice chairman Hsieh Kuo-ching (謝國清) said that from a parent’s perspective, the coalition’s proposed curricula could not have much effect in terms of college entrance exams that must comply with the ministry’s curricula, adding that the pressing issue now is to persuade the ministry to correct its curriculum guidelines.
In response to the campaign, the ministry’s curricular adjustment committee convener, Wang Hsiao-po (王曉波), said: “There’s no comparison between high-school teachers and committee members in terms of knowledge and proficiency.”
Chou said Wang’s remark revealed nothing but his arrogance, and that university academics’ lack of classroom experiences ended up with a curriculum that is too complicated for high-school students, crippling teachers and students alike.
Chou added that the drafting of curricula has always been a unilateral decision made by people in power, despite public hearings.
The director of the ministry’s K-12 Education Administration, Wu Ching-shan (吳清山), said that high-school teachers are not legally authorized to draft curriculum guidelines, as the Senior High-School Education Act (高級中等教育法) and the National Education Act (國民教育法) stipulate that the National Academy for Educational Research should put forward a draft curriculum for the ministry to approve before the curriculum can take effect.
The academy’s Committee of Curriculum Development would convene public hearings after it makes public the draft curriculum guidelines and teachers are encouraged to voice their opinions at the hearings, which is the standard procedure for devising a curriculum, he added.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) hosted a dinner in Taipei last night with key Taiwanese suppliers to celebrate the successful mass production of the company’s new Blackwell AI systems. Speaking to the media earlier yesterday, Huang thanked Nvidia’s Taiwanese partners for their contributions to the company’s ecosystem, while also sharing his plans to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀). In response to rumors that Nvidia will launch a downgraded Hopper H20 chip for China in July, Huang dismissed the reports, saying, “That is not true.” He clarified that there
RSS