Tainan’s Hushan Experimental Elementary School said that the introduction of experimental education has succeeded in helping the school attract more students over the past seven years, averting its imminent closure.
The school for the children of Taiwan Sugar Co employees in the area saw its student numbers dwindle to the single digits across all grades as a result of a population decline, as the sugar industry has scaled back.
The school’s remoteness is both a blessing and a curse, dean Lin Yung-cheng (林勇成) said.
Lin sought to shift the school’s focus from an institution that encourages pedantic teaching to one that encourages children to explore the world around them by overhauling classes to focus on energy, water, climate change, recyclable resources and biodiversity in line with the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development’s Eco-Schools program, the school said.
The school in 2015 adopted experimental education and shifted to a quarter system, it said.
Every 10 weeks of class is followed by two to three weeks of vacation, which not only offers ample time to relax, but also allows more flexibility for students to explore their environment or hold exhibitions, it said.
The changes have not only brought the school back from the brink of closing, but have also made it the only school in Tainan that has increased its number of classes for three consecutive years, it added.
The school has also won awards from the Ministry of Education for excellent education and the Executive Yuan for sustainable development, it said.
Former Yue Ming Elementary School dean Huang Chien-jung (黃建榮) aided the school in transitioning from a public school into a privately managed public school in 2016, the school said.
Exam-based education causes students to lack motivation, while Yue Ming’s experimental method encourages teachers to guide children to think about why they wish to learn, he said.
Tropical depression TD22, which was over waters south of the Ryukyu Islands, is likely to develop into a tropical storm by this morning and pose a significant threat to Taiwan next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The depression is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm named Krathon as it moves south and then veers north toward waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, CWA forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. Given the favorable environmental conditions for its development, TD22’s intensity would reach at least typhoon levels, Hsu said. As of 2pm yesterday, the tropical depression was about 610km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
RSS