An Aboriginal teachers’ union yesterday called for compulsory native-language education for all grades, in response to new curriculum guidelines that only mandate such classes until the ninth grade.
The Ministry of Education in a curriculum meeting on Saturday decided to make classes in “national languages” compulsory once per week for seventh and eighth-graders, after which it would become elective, although schools must still offer at least one class per week.
According to Article 9 of the Development of National Languages Act (國家語言發展法), national-language classes are required “at all stages of compulsory education.”
Photo: CNA
The ministry has said that Aboriginal languages are at risk of disappearing, yet has decided not to require them in the secondary-school curriculum, Save Compulsory Ethnic-Language Secondary Education Aboriginal Teachers’ Union representative Yu Nien-hua (余年華) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
This not only risks disrupting educational continuity, but would also make basic implementation more difficult, Yu said.
Teaching quality and materials for seventh and eighth-graders would also suffer as a result, he added.
The ministry should cover all training costs of full-time native-language teachers to resolve the issue of a shortage of teachers instructing such languages, he said.
It should also finance and provide guidance for those looking to publish native-language educational materials, so that teachers could have more sources to draw upon, Yu added.
Lastly, it should clarify the wording in the act to specify “at every level and every grade,” as the current text intends, he said.
Aboriginal languages are facing extinction, yet are being ignobly sacrificed in national policy for the sake of capitalism and credentialism, union representative Pai Hui-lan (白惠蘭) said.
Aboriginal languages, Hakka and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) are all “national languages,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sra Kacaw (鄭天財) said.
The act clearly stipulates that national-language classes must be compulsory at all levels, making the ministry’s decision brazenly illegal, he said.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) later yesterday said that the decision fully accords with the act and vowed to prepare all necessary teachers and materials before its implementation next year.
In response to the group’s requests, Pan said that local governments can already provide funding for native-language courses, while the ministry offers teacher training.
As for educational materials, he said that the ministry edits secondary-level texts for Aboriginal languages and offers financial assistance to local Aboriginal resource centers to develop new material.
However, the ministry would continue to encourage the development of textbooks to diversify available offerings, he added.
In its resolution, the curriculum committee also decided to amend the act to categorize national languages as “ministry-mandated curriculum,” Pan added.
Additional reporting by Rachel Lin
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to