A wave of high-school student protests against the Ministry of Education’s controversial adjustments to high-school curriculum guidelines has escalated, with students from at least 16 high schools campaigning in nationwide, coordinated action.
Following a sit-in organized by National Taichung First Senior High School students earlier this month, the initiative has drawn support from fellow students at National Hsinchu Senior High School, Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School and National Wuling Senior High School in Taoyuan, among others.
Opposition to the modified curriculum set to be implemented in August stems from perceived procedural flaws by the ministry, as well as changes to history textbooks that critics say reflect a “China-centric” view.
Photo provided by a student
The ministry has been “too dogmatic” in bulldozing through the curricular adjustments, students at National Chu-pei Senior High School in Hsinchu County said, adding that they hope that history teachers can be freed from political interference and join the students’ cause.
Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School student Ho Wei-tzu (何蔚慈) said that the school’s student association is set to organize larger protests nationwide in collaboration with fellow students at National Hsinchu Senior High School.
The anti-curriculum campaign aims for the revocation of the adjusted curriculum and a re-evaluation of the curriculum-reviewing mechanism, he said.
“The ministry, as the governing body [of education], is culpable by failing to maintain procedural justice [in modifying the curriculum], on which civic education has placed great emphasis. The new curriculum of civic education is thereby problematic,” he said.
Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School teacher Tseng Yi-ming (曾宜敏) said that she was pleased to see students respond to social issues, as the purpose of education is to foster students’ ability to think critically and act correspondingly.
New Taipei Municipal Zhonghe Senior High School student activist Liang Yan-jou (梁艷柔) said that students organized a forum to debate changes to the curriculum on the campus last week, attracting more than 200 students and teachers.
A series of activities organized by high-school students against the curricular adjustments include a panel discussion moderated by spokeswoman of the Black Island National Youth Front Lai Pin-yu (賴品妤) at Jianguo High School yesterday; a demonstration marching from Jhongli Station in Taoyuan tomorrow; a forum at National Tainan Girls’ Senior High School on Wednesday next week; and a panel discussion at SuSu Second-Hand Bookstore and Guesthouse chaired by education activist Chou Wei-tung (周威同) in Taitung County on Thursday next week.
Facebook communities have been established to mobilize more students to advance the campaign.
Additional reporting by Weng Yu-ming and Wang Chun-chieh
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
RSS