Wu Tieh-hsiung (吳鐵雄), president of National Tainan Teachers College (
"I have already made up my mind, Wu Tieh-hsiung is a very good choice because he completely meets our criteria -- he has a good public image, is a good team player and is keen about educational reform," said Tzeng.
Although the decision will not be finalized until it wins the approval of the Executive Yuan next Wednesday, the minister said he was quite certain the executive department would endorse his finding.
"[The executive branch] always respects our opinions because [the ministry's officials] always make decisions out of professional considerations."
Since Tzeng took office last May, he and Wu have had frequent contact concerning a number of educational issues.
After Lin made public his intention to retire last Thursday following his demotion, Tzeng sought out Wu to see if he was willing to assume the post of vice minister.
Asked how he felt about stepping into a ministry stricken by problems, Wu told the Taipei Times yesterday that he didn't think the ministry should take all the blame, because it would only be through painstaking reform that the educational system could be ameliorated.
"To carry out educational reform, everything needs to be well planned and cautiously implemented. And it is only natural and inevitable that problems will arise along the way, and criticism as well," he said.
"But this does not mean the ministry is moving in the wrong direction," said the educator, who has been teaching for almost 30 years.
"What's more important is that once you determine to do something, you ought to put all your energy into overcoming any difficulties," he added.
Responding to a question regarding how he would prepare himself for the transformation from being a scholar to being an executive official, Wu said he had a lot of learning to do but expressed confidence in his ability to do the job.
"Whether I work at the educational or the administrative department, I always make sure that I am fully engaged. It is true that the two are different environments and I will need to fumble about for a while to search for a clear path, but with my abundant experience within educational circles and my willingness to learn, I don't think there will be any major problem," he said.
Despite his lack of experience as an executive, the 62-year-old scholar is not a novice when it comes to educational reform, something the education ministry is intensively promoting.
Wu, who holds a doctoral degree in educational statistics from the State University of New York in Buffalo, has also been hired by the education ministry as an adviser for the "Nine-Year Educational Program" (
The initiative is slated to be launched this September and aims to integrate the two stages of Taiwan's educational system -- its elementary and high school programs.
Wu also actively champions computer-based learning for elementary and high school students.
Wu has been the president of the the Tainan-based teachers college since 1992, before which he was a professor at National Taiwan Normal University (
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