The National Alliance of Parents Organization (NAPO) yesterday urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to celebrate his first anniversary in office by extending national compulsory education to 12 years.
“We hereby urge President Ma to announce that the government will extend the nation’s mandatory education from 2012 onward and allow 90 percent of junior high school graduates to enter senior high school or vocational high school without having to participate in entrance examinations,” alliance chairman Hsieh Kuo-ching (謝國清) said.
The government should appropriate money to allow every junior high school student to take three to five special classes between the seventh and ninth grades to let them explore their interests, Hsieh said.
The current system of nine years of compulsory education was implemented on Sept. 1, 1968.
The compulsory education system covers students up to the ninth grade. Those who wish to attend senior high school or pursue a vocational high school diploma are required to take entrance examinations.
The public and the Ministry of Education reached a consensus in 2003 to extend the term of education to 12 years.
A survey by the National Academy for Educational Research Preparatory Office in December 2006 showed that up to 78.4 percent of people supported the extension.
However, the government has not set a date for the implementation of the 12-year mandatory education system.
The alliance voiced its dissatisfaction with the slow progress in the reform and said that members would stage a silent sit-in around the Executive Yuan next Saturday.
“The NAPO hopes President Ma will announce a clear timetable to implement a 12-year compulsory education system during the celebration of his first year in office so that Taiwanese children can enjoy a better educational system,” Hsieh said.
When asked for comment, Minister of Education Cheng Jei-cheng (鄭瑞城) said the ministry and supporters of the extension had not reached an agreement on whether senior or vocational high school should be free if the compulsory education system was extended to 12 years.
He said the ministry might present a detailed plan next month at the earliest.
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