The upcoming 2029 curriculum is to keep up with the times, focusing on fostering the qualities of a “global citizen” and enhancing student knowledge of digital technologies and concepts, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday.
The first Curriculum Guidelines for 12-year Basic Education were implemented in 2019 and were the primary reference material for schools, textbook publishers and the government when preparing courses, textbooks and examinations.
Pan said that the process for reviewing the guidelines was transparent, and members of the review panel had been reviewed and approved by a cross-party committee at the Legislative Yuan, highlighting the guidelines’ transparency and objectivity, compared with previous guidelines.
Photo: Chen Pin-yu, Taipei Times
The guidelines are subject to a review every decade, he said.
Their next iteration would continue to foster qualities required for an individual to be considered a “global citizen,” including the ability to see things from a global perspective, Pan said.
The ministry is aware of the rapid technological changes brought about by the development of generative artificial intelligence (AI), and the National Academy for Educational Research is collecting data in preparation for the 2029 review, he said.
The 2019 guidelines do not explicitly state what kind of information technology (IT) should be taught or used to prevent schools and educators from being constrained, while the overarching theme of developing IT and media competency under the guidelines encourages all studies to use an appropriate level of IT-based education and learning methods, he said.
In the meantime, the ministry would assist teachers in gradually incorporating knowledge of such concepts and skillsets into courses to prepare children for the future, he added.
For example, the ministry in October announced that junior-high schools and elementary schools should use generative AI as a teaching tool, he said.
The ministry would organize workshops starting next year to help teachers use generative AI in course preparation, education and grading, he said.
These efforts would form the foundation upon which the National Academy for Educational Research builds a comprehensive digital learning program that would be led by school principals who are tech-savvy, he added.
The ministry is looking to introduce generative AI into its digital learning platform, and 300 classes nationwide have been asked to participate in a trial to assess the impact of generative AI on student learning, he said.
Pan also rejected allegations that the 2019 guidelines were “immoral and shameless,” citing Taiwan’s ranking on the 2023 World Competitiveness Yearbook as proof of their success.
Taipei First Girls’ High School Chinese literature teacher Ou Kui-chih (區桂芝) on Monday criticized the guidelines for reducing the number of classical Chinese texts taught in schools, citing specifically the omission of writings about morality by the Ming Dynasty academic Gu Yanwu (顧炎武), the omission of which Ou said failed to teach students about propriety.
Pan said that the 2019 guidelines exposed children to new and more critical issues and increased their competitiveness.
He also said that literary Chinese education aims to foster students’ mental acuity for analysis and learning to express their opinions, and the “point” was not whose works were being cited or how much literary Chinese was studied.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS