Eighty-four percent of respondents said that educators should harbor the “correct national identity” to be allowed to teach, a poll released yesterday by the Professor Huang Kun-huei Education Foundation showed.
The survey showed that 58.6 percent of respondents supported the Ministry of Education’s efforts to include topics related to national identity in elementary and high-school curricula, foundation chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) told a news conference in Taipei.
The poll showed 91.1 percent agreed that educators’ freedom of speech in the classroom is superseded by their responsibility to their students, Huang said.
Photo: Fang pin-chao, Taipei Times
Asked about a ministry ban on universities and colleges from interacting with institutions tied to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army or United Front Work Department, 56.6 percent of respondents were in favor of the policy, he said.
Foundation poll committee convener Kuo Sheng-yu (郭生玉) said a breakdown by region showed that 90 percent of respondents from the Yulin-Chiayi-Tainan region agreed that teachers should identify with Taiwan, topping all other major geographic areas in the nation.
The curriculum changes were supported by 62.3 percent of men, 66.2 of those in the Taipei-New Taipei City-Keelung region and 70.6 percent of those in the 20-to-34 age bracket, Kuo said.
The purpose of education is to cultivate modern people with an understanding of national identity and international perspectives, former deputy minister of examinations Lee Lung-sheng (李隆盛) said, citing the Fundamental Education Act (基本教育法).
Boosting national identity is necessary to promote Taiwanese solidarity and decrease the risk of an invasion, Lee said.
The survey results show that public opinion is in line with the legal responsibilities educators have, Lee said.
Most Taiwanese do not believe that freedom of speech entitles teachers to put themselves above national security or share their subjective political views with students, he added.
The poll showed that 87.6 percent of respondents agreed that the government should hasten efforts to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) education strategy.
It showed that 73.4 percent agreed with the ministry’s decision to stop demanding that elementary and high-schools teach subjects in English, excluding English-language classes.
The policies to improve AI and English-language education was well-intended, but education officials should be realistic about what teachers could achieve with the resources they have, Lee said.
The survey, which sought responses from Taiwanese aged 22 or older, was conducted from May 20 to 22 via landline.
It garnered 1,070 valid responses and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS