Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) yesterday said he returned to the ministry in the hope of completing the policies he had previously planned.
“Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) asked me to reassume the position because many of the policies I have planned are still in the process of being implemented and time is a bit tight at the moment,” he said after being sworn in.
“The premier says I am responsible for ensuring that the policies are successfully carried out. I know that is a huge responsibility, but I am willing to shoulder that,” he added.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The new 12-year curriculum guidelines, which are to take effect on Aug. 1, are a “big change for students,” he said.
He had planned the details and budgets for new textbooks, facilities and equipment required under the new guidelines and would do his best to work with schools to implement them, he said.
While former deputy minister of education Yao Leeh-ter (姚立德) is to return to teaching at Taipei National Taipei University of Technology, Deputy Minister of Education Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠), who had tendered her resignation on Sunday, would stay on in her position to help with the implementation of the guidelines, he said.
Fan has experience in compulsory education, which is a skill the ministry needs, he added.
Pan had stepped down as education minister less than a year into his term in April last year over controversy surrounding the election of National Taiwan University president Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔).
He had expressed hope that his resignation would end the political manipulations surrounding the issue that were causing “unnecessary stress and burden” to the ministry.
Following his resignation, two more education ministers stepped down over the election, while Kuan was appointed on Tuesday last week.
In response to media queries yesterday whether he felt wronged for having to step down, Pan said he did not feel that way.
“The election involved many controversies, but I felt it was a good thing that the flaws in the election system were exposed,” he said, adding that he had reviewed the system hoping to improve transparency in the election process while protecting university autonomy.
National Federation of Teachers’ Unions director-general Huang Yao-nan (黃耀南) on Sunday said that the new minister must deal with a number of pressing issues, such as the new curriculum guidelines and the transformation of private universities.
“Compared with previous curriculum changes in 2006 and 2010, this year’s changes are more extensive and require more supplementary measures and resources,” Huang said.
Having planned the curriculum guidelines, Pan is familiar with the policy, “but hopefully he would hold his ground and not compromise so easily under political pressure this time,” he added.
National Alliance of Parents Organizations chairman Hsieh Kuo-ching (謝國清) said that teachers and parents’ associations are happy to see Pan return, adding that they hope he would stay in the position until next year.
Hopefully Pan would help ensure a smooth transition for teachers and parents when the new curriculum guidelines take effect, he added.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu, Rachel Lin and Wo Po-hsuan
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition. The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, police said. Chen Chin-cheng (陳金城), head of the Yilan County Government Police Bureau, said the package bore no postmark or names and was labeled only with the siblings’ address. Citing the findings of a
RSS