About 88 percent of people think the government should call a national conference to discuss education policies, the Professor Huang Kun-huei Education Foundation said yesterday.
In a survey conducted by the foundation, more than half of the respondents said they were not satisfied with the outcomes of the education reform 30 years after the “410 Demonstration for Education Reform” march on April 10, 1994.
The march, staged by nongovernmental groups, prompted the government to set up the Commission on Educational Reform as part of the Executive Yuan.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The commission spent two years on research and published The Consultants’ Concluding Report on Education Reform (教育改革總諮議報告書), prompting the education reform, which profoundly influenced the middle-aged and younger generations in Taiwan, foundation chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) told a news conference in Taipei.
The survey showed that “providing students with more opportunities to develop personal capabilities and interests” was a crucial positive outcome of the education reform, which earned recognition from 53.3 percent of the respondents, he said.
However, most of the respondents did not find the reform as satisfying in other aspects, he said.
The foundation said that 54.1 percent of the respondents are not satisfied with the reform’s overall outcome, while 51.5 percent are unsatisfied with the decision to open more high schools and universities to reduce academic pressure.
On the other hand, 53.4 percent of the respondents are dissatisfied with the reform’s effectiveness in facilitating social mobility, while 61.2 percent think the reform failed to increase students’ adaptability and competitiveness, and 65 percent are worried about devaluation of college degrees.
About half of the respondents think the reform failed to achieve its goals of “taking care of each student” and “diversifying teachers’ cultivation.”
Meanwhile, about 88 percent of the respondents said that the government should call a national conference on education to discuss policies, while 67 percent agreed that the compulsory education should include five-year-olds, Huang said.
Respondents from Kaohsiung, and Pingtung and Penghu counties are concerned that technical and vocational education is being marginalized, foundation director Feng Ching-huang (馮清皇) said.
Including five-year-old children in compulsory education is the key to providing comprehensive education, foundation poll committee convener Kuo Sheng-yu (郭生玉) said, adding that the National Child Care Policy for Children Ages 0-6 is not enough.
The foundation initiated the discussion about the education reform to unveil the real problems and prepare Taiwan for future education rather than finding someone to blame, Huang said.
Educational groups on April 9, before President William Lai (賴清德) took office, urged him to convene a national conference on education to reach a consensus on policies.
The foundation conducted the nationwide telephone survey among Taiwanese aged 20 or older from May 24 to 27. It had 1,068 valid samples, including 302 via mobile phone, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points, it said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS