The National Teachers' Association (NTA 全國教師會) yesterday called on the incoming administration of President-elect Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to keep his campaign promise and improve the method for selecting senior high school principals.
Senior high school principals -- who were appointed directly by the government in the past -- are required to go through a selection process before they are appointed, following a revision to the Senior High School Law in July 1999.
The Ministry of Education is still working on the selection rules and has decided, in principle, that a single committee should be set up to select new heads for all schools where there are vacancies.
The NTA, however, has expressed strong opposition to the ministry's idea.
It has advocated setting up a selection committee for each school where a position falls vacant, an idea that got Chen's backing in the run-up to the presidential election.
Because of the likely Cabinet reshuffle after Chen's inauguration on May 20, the education ministry has held back on a final decision and will wait until the new administration is in place.
"This is the very first check on educational reform that the new government should cash," said Chang Chien-huang (
Chang said the open selection of school principals has been one of the key concepts for reform of the educational system.
Chang criticized the Ministry of Education's proposal as being of no help to the reform, because it denies the participation of teachers and parents and ignores the specific needs of individual schools.
"Each school has its own understanding as to what kind of principal it needs. Why don't we let their voices be heard?" Chang asked.
Under the NTA's proposal, each school with a vacancy would set up a committee consisting of teacher and parent representatives, as well as government officials, to select a principal who best meets the needs of the school.
"The principal is responsible for the realization of the school's educational philosophy," Chang said.
Responding to the NTA's appeal, DPP legislator Fan Sun-lu (
"We definitely won't rule out the possibility of accepting the NTA's proposal, but we believe an evaluation and review process is still needed," said Fan, a senior member of the legislature's Education Committee.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS