Thge curriculum guidelines introduced by the government in 2019 has led to “learning fatigue” in children, the Child Welfare League Foundation said on Sunday, citing a recent survey.
The league announced its findings at a news conference Sunday to report on the academic progress of Taiwan’s students this year.
The survey suggests that 60 percent of the nation’s children are enrolled in after-school cram schools, the foundation said, adding that the number could be higher than 70 percent in cities.
Photo: CNA
About a quarter of students attend cram schools more than five days a week, with about 60 percent staying at their institutions until 9pm; and 20 percent attending classes until well after 10pm.
Considering that an average student takes two hours for study at home, those enrolled in cram schools could be doing school work for more than 10 hours learning a day — longer than most adults’ working hours.
The foundation said the survey results indicate that more than 93 percent of children sleep less than eight hours a day due to the amount of studying, while about 37 percent get five to six hours’ sleep a day, it said.
With so much time studying and too little sleep, students in Taiwan average only one hour of exercise a week, it said.
Moreover, the main source of stress observed in Taiwanese students comes from the high number of quizzes and tests in a standard week in both schools and cram schools.
On junior and senior high-school students specifically, league official Huang Yun-hsuan (黃韻璇) said that based on the foundation’s findings, the two main sources of students’ stress come from school work and worrying about their future.
The foundation attributed the problems to the “Curriculum Guidelines for 12-Year Basic Education,” officially introduced in 2019.
The foundation said the education plan’s aim was to provide a greater variety of classes for students to design their own curriculum.
Huang said the league’s latest statistics reveal there is still an excessive amount of cram school programs and tests, an on-going phenomenon observed around Taiwan — the focal point of students’ learning fatigue.
The government should re-examine extracurricular activities and curricula to provide students with a more well-rounded education, Huang said, adding that the 12-year plan is clearly unable to help the needs of Taiwan’s students.
With the survey showing that almost 60 percent of students are uncertain about their future prospects, Huang urged parents to pay more attention to their children’s physical and mental well-being, adding that the future achievements of Taiwan’s children should no longer be measured based on grades and diplomas.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS