TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Criticisms mounted from students about a comment by a Taipei First Girls' High School teacher, who argued that cutting the percentage of "classical Chinese" to be taught in textbooks is "shameless."
To meet the evolving demands of learning and skills development, the government proposed to amend the curriculum guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education for textbook publishers and school teachers. In the past decades, the changes have been hotly debated and described as a means to reflect the political ideology favored by the ruling party.
As national elections are a month away, a group of education workers held a press conference last week attacking the latest guidelines made under President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) administration. Alice Ou (區桂芝), a senior Chinese teacher at Taipei First Girls' High School, called the guidelines "shameless," as they lowered the "must-read" classical Chinese pieces of literature from 30 to 15, which mostly fell under those associated with Confucianism and the Four Books and the Five Classics (四書五經).
The etiquette and manners taught by Confucianism have had slightly different interpretations over time. Confucius' conceptions of "loyalty" and "filial piety" have been celebrated by Chinese rulers and engraved in textbooks for hundreds of years.
In response to Ou's criticism, a young Taiwanese writer named Chu Yu-hsun (朱宥勳) fought back, saying the guidelines have never been compulsory and that publishers can select the pieces of literature they think are best suited to students' needs.
In addition, students debated whether certain classical Chinese texts that are rarely used in daily life should still be included in textbooks. Feng Chi-yu (馮琪淯), who was accepted with the highest exam scores to the country's top medical school, wrote on her Instagram that during high school, she had trouble following the logic of Hsun Tzu's classical text "Encouraging Learning" (勸學), one of the pieces not on the new guidelines' recommended list, as it is packed with odd comparisons and words.
A PTT user, who said she was a Taipei First Girls' High School student, shared that she and her classmates have had problems with Ou, who has outspokenly made anti-Japan, anti-independence, and anti-DPP comments in class.
Opposition New Power Party (NPP) Legislator and Chair Claire Wang (王婉諭) said on Facebook that she was delighted to see the younger generations educated under the new guidelines. She said younger generations exhibit more critical thinking than previous generations and are braver in expressing their thoughts.
Wang also disagreed with Ou, saying students can learn about a variety of topics under the new guidelines rather than being forced to memorize large amounts of classical Chinese texts. "I do not see any issue here as a parent, and people around me agreed that their capabilities to process large amounts of data and information have improved when they are not required to memorize the classical texts," she said.
Wang also failed to agree with Ou's comment that blamed the supposed increase in immoral behavior in young people, as reported by some media outlets, on the decreased time spent learning classical texts. The correlation pointed out by Ou is weak and ignorant to the complex, changing society led by technologies, she said.
