A reduction in classical Chinese content under curriculum guidelines for senior and vocational high schools would lead to the “desinicization” of students, a high-school teacher has said, generating a heated discussion on the standards put in place in 2019.
Ou Kui-chih (區桂芝), who teaches Chinese literature at Taipei First Girls’ High School, on Monday criticized the Ministry of Education’s “108 curriculum” for reducing the number of classical Chinese texts taught in schools.
Writings about morality by Ming Dynasty academic Gu Yanwu (顧炎武) were not included in the guidelines, she said, calling the omission “shameless.”
Photo: Taipei Times file
The Ministry of Education said the guidelines focus on authors from different eras to build students’ competence, and help them become law-abiding citizens with proper moral compasses.
Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) on Friday said that memorizing classical Chinese literature does not teach students about morality.
Classical Chinese still occupies a significant portion of the curriculum, Cheng added.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said the curriculum never “removed” classical literature, but “suggested” new texts, which were to be added at a publisher’s discretion.
If Ou believes that Ku’s work titled "Honesty and Morality (廉恥)" should be included in teaching materials, she should meet with publishers and urge them to add it, or teach the text during class, Wang said.
Writer Chu Yu-hsun (朱宥勳) said the onus of what to teach was not on the curriculum guidelines, but on the textbook publishers and the teachers, adding that while the works of poet Yu Kwang-chung (余光中) were not among the ministry’s suggested texts, many schools still teach his poetry.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Friday said he admired Ou for speaking out, while Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Sean Lien (連勝文) yesterday said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was using the guidelines to make Taiwanese “illiterate.”
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the KMT’s presidential candidate, on Friday said that if he were elected, he would chair a national affairs conference to discuss changing the curriculum guidelines.
Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the DPP’s presidential candidate, yesterday said that the guidelines were designed as a reference for publishers to gauge what materials to include in their textbooks.
Publishers should consult with teachers to discuss issues about the content of textbooks, Lai said, adding that the guidelines are not intended to be exactly what should appear in the books.
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Friday said that he opposes desinicization in the curriculum guidelines.
“Taiwan must make clear to China that we share the same language, ethnicity, history, religion and culture, but that we each have different political models and lifestyles,” he said. “We do not have to abandon the whole culture just because we are in competition with China.”
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang, Lin Che-yuan and Peng Chien-li
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS