‘PSEUDO-DISPUTE’:Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa said that the new curriculum was promulgated in February last year and that new textbooks have already been printed

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 05, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao and Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporters

A legislative cross-caucus meeting yesterday decided against an extraordinary

Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa, left, shakes hands with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao before attending a meeting of the KMT legislative caucus in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times

legislative session, as student protesters had demanded, and instead advised the Ministry of Education (MOE) to immediately launch reviews of curriculum guidelines in accordance with the Senior High School Education Act (高級中等教育法) and to allow schools to freely choose which textbooks they use.

A meeting in the legislature was held yesterday to decide whether an extraordinary legislative session was needed. The meeting had been scheduled to take place at 10:30am, but did not begin until nearly noon, after a prolonged cross-caucus negotiation behind closed doors.

Faced with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ strong opposition, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus withdrew its proposal to call an extraordinary legislative session to discuss whether to withdraw new curriculum guidelines. Instead, it was agreed in the cross-caucus negotiation that the Ministry of Education would be advised to adhere to Article 43 of the act to immediately establish a “curriculum council” to examine senior-high school curriculum guidelines, and that schools should be free to choose their own textbooks in the new school year.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Aug 02, 2015
By: Lin Hui-chin and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Efforts must be taken to prevent young people committing suicide like student protester Dai

Student protesters yesterday continue their sit-in at the Ministry of Education against the government’s “minor adjustments” to the high-school curriculum guidelines. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

Lin (林冠華), as youths have been known to emulate suicidal events of their peers, Tri-Service General Hospital department of psychology director Yeh Chi-pin (葉啟斌) said.

Lin, a member of the Northern Taiwan Anti-Curriculum Changes Alliance, was found dead near burning charcoal early on Thursday morning, the day of his 20th birthday.

According to Yeh, Lin burned coal in an enclosed space, a method with one of the highest success rates.

“A majority of participants in the anti-curriculum changes events are youths and there exists the possibility of an emulation effect,” Taiwanese Society of Suicidology director Yang Tsung-tsai (楊聰財) said.       [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/01
By: Chen Chi-chung and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Aug. 1 (CNA) Activists opposed to the revised senior high school history curriculum guidelines, officially adopted Saturday, continued their sit-in protest in the Education Ministry’s compound, although in a more peaceful manner.

As tensions began to ease, the police removed the barricade Saturday morning, which it had used against the crowd since Thursday, when the activists gathered at the ministry to stop the textbook guidelines from being implemented.

The protesters — mostly high school and college students — have been demanding the withdrawal of the controversial guidelines, that Education Minister Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) step down, and that the ministry drop charges against protesters arrested the previous week for breaking into the ministry’s building.     [FULL  STORY]

‘WU, GO TO HELL’:Officials initially told protesters Wu did not have time to meet them. When he did appear, he would not say if he would withdraw the guidelines

Taipei Times
Date:  Aug 01, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Talks between student activists and Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) broke down

A student leader, front center, declares the breakdown of negotiations with Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa, center back, yesterday in Taipei. Photo: CNA

yesterday, after Wu refused to agree to withdraw controversial adjustments to high-school curriculum guidelines and step down.

“We never would have guessed that there would be a minister of education who cannot even answer an elementary true-or-false question,” student leader Liao Chung-lun (廖崇倫) of Taichung First Senior High School said. “He isn’t able to tell us whether curriculum guidelines will be withdrawn — he is only able to thank us for our opinions, a phrase we are fed up with hearing.”

The “fine-tuned” guidelines’ allegedly “China-centric” focus has sparked waves of student protests.

Wu appeared at the Ministry of Education building’s entrance early in the afternoon, advancing through ranks of police officers. He called for a moment of silence for student activist Dai Lin (林冠華) before falling back behind police officers to address the crowd gathered in the ministry’s outer courtyard.     [FULL  STORY]