The Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday said it is developing educational materials that are designed to reinforce students’ Taiwanese identity and enhance awareness of Chinese threats.
Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee, in response to questions about educators advocating pro-China positions in class.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) said that Taipei First Girls’ High School Chinese literature teacher Alice Ou (區桂芝) reportedly taught in class that Taiwan is part of China.
Photo: CNA
Citing another example, Lin said a parent of a third-grade student also told her that their child’s homeroom teacher taught students that “we are all Chinese.”
Lin expressed concern that children might be confused about their national identity because of these teachings.
Other lawmakers cited the case of National Tsing Hua University professor Jou Jwo-huei (周卓煇), who took 28 students on a five-day academic exchange tour to China during the Tomb Sweeping holiday. China reportedly footed the bill for food and accommodation.
Chou defended the tour, saying the trip was purely for academic research and had nothing to do with Beijing’s “united front” work.
Lawmakers urged the education ministry to pursue solutions to the problem.
Cheng replied that individual safety would not be possible without national security.
“The purpose of the Fundamental Act of Education [教育基本法] is to develop national consciousness and a global perspective. The Social Studies Tutoring Group for Primary and Secondary Schools is compiling educational materials designed to reinforce students’ national identity and enhance their literal awareness of threats from China, which should be completed during the summer vacation. We hope teachers of history, government and geography can attend training sessions for these materials and convey the right information and perspective to students,” Cheng said.
While individuals are entitled to their cultural preferences, educators must be neutral and their freedom of speech is protected under the Fundamental Act of Education, Cheng said.
Lawmakers also asked ministry officials if universities can deny students’ rights to set up tables to gather signatures for the recall campaigns against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators.
Cheng said that the act bans universities from advocating agenda for specific political groups, but it does not ban university students from voluntarily participating in civic activities.
Their freedom of speech should be protected so long as they are not promoting the agenda of specific political parties, Cheng said.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS