The National Academy for Education Research should impose more rigorous standards to review textbooks prior to publication, representatives of parents’ associations said yesterday, calling the sex and gender education content of some textbooks age-inappropriate.
“Concepts like a ‘gender spectrum,’ ‘heterosexual hegemony,’ ‘homophobia’ and the Web addresses of homosexual groups should be deleted from textbooks,” said Yang Chun-tsu (楊郡慈), a deputy secretary-general of the National Alliance of Presidents of Parents’ Associations.
Protesters showed copies of textbooks using terminology they opposed.
“Education agencies should pay more attention to what textbooks schools use and ensure parents know the choices ahead of time,” Yang said, adding that parental membership in schools’ gender equality and curriculum development committees should be guaranteed.
While high-school curriculum guidelines only call for teaching “respect for gender diversity,” most textbook publishers have interpreted that as mandating instruction on homosexuality, with most textbooks including related content, protesters said, displaying examples.
“Our values should be reflected in the curriculum, because we are the ones who care the most about our children and we are by their sides the longest,” said Liang Mei-hui (梁美慧), another deputy secretary-general of the association.
“We are not opposed to gender-equality education, but we are opposed to a curriculum that cultivates homosexuality,” National Association of Students’ Parents chairman Chen Tieh-hu (陳鐵虎) said. “Gender equality education has started to include a lot of inappropriate additions we find worrying.”
“Using the term heterosexual hegemony is an offense to heterosexuals,” said Wang Li-sheng (王立昇), who heads the National Alliance of Presidents of Parents’ Associations’ supervisory board.
He added that there had been some progress compared with last year’s textbooks, as content about bisexuality had been removed in response to parents’ complaints.
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS