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• PE system to be returned to ministry of education

  REFOCUSING: The ministries would re-evaluate event schedules and the coaching system to balance focus between competitive and non-competitive sports

  • By Rachel Lin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  Oversight of Taiwan’s physical education (PE) system is to return to the Ministry of Education with a renewed focus on holistic development rather than athletic performance, Deputy Minister of Education Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) said in an interview published yesterday.

  Speaking with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times), Chang Liao said that when the Ministry of Sports was first established, both ministries operated on the principle that competitive sports and training went to the sports ministry, while the education ministry handled PE.

  However, local governments and schools were unsure which ministry they should submit their subsidy requests to, and after 10 months of negotiations, both sides agreed that school-related PE should fall under the education ministry to improve administrative efficiency, Chang Liao said.

  

  Players from the Liming Junior High School soccer team practice at a field next to the Chaoma Sports Center in Taichung on Jan. 7, 2018.

  Photo: CNA

  The agreement would allow the education ministry to begin changing the way sports classes are handled in elementary schools, Chang Liao said.

  The change should start with how such classes are perceived, broadening their purpose so that pupils have the opportunity to try out various sports, Chang Liao said.

  Students do not need to become professional athletes, but they should build an exercise habit, as it is integral for the rest of their lives, he said.

  Lack of resources in the past meant that the sports class system, established in 1968, had to adopt methods for athlete training in elementary school, Chang Liao said.

  The model must be reconsidered so that more children have an opportunity to play sports, he said.

  The changes should open the door to elementary-school sports classes and allow more people interested in sports to attend, he said.

  As rural and indigenous villages already lack resources, the education ministry should introduce experimental education or special projects to provide diverse channels for talented children to apply and continue training for competitive sports, Chang Liao said.

  Both ministries aim to prompt community sports clubs to foster greater public participation in sports, as such clubs would allow students to play baseball, basketball, badminton and table tennis in communities after school, Chang Liao said.

  The ministries are to discuss how competitive events are to be scheduled, the coaching system in general and how talent is to be fostered, in hopes that sports classes would also consider education and not focus entirely on competition, Chang Liao said.

  The ministries are looking into consolidating events to help sports class students better balance learning and training, Chang Liao said, citing CPBL Uni-President Lions captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s (陳傑憲) comments to support his views.

  Chen, who spent his high-school years in Japan, said in an interview that there were about three national Japanese high-school baseball events year-long, and students mostly focused on studying.

  Chang Liao also said that many Japanese high-school baseball coaches were also teachers, while Taiwanese coaches were mostly retired players, highlighting an emphasis on competitive training.
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