CURRICULUM STRIFE:An education official said only one version of a textbook can be valid and that asking for sales of older versions to cease was customary
Taipei Times
Date: May 25, 2015
By: Staff reporter, with staff writer
Civic groups and opposition legislators yesterday railed against new high-school
A letter sent by the National Academy for Educational Research to textbook publishers is shown in a photograph taken on Saturday. The notice announces the academy’s approval of new textbook editions and tells publishers to stop selling older editions. Photo: Lin Hsiao-yun, Taipei Times
textbooks that are to be introduced in August, saying that a notice by the National Academy for Educational Research (NAER) to textbook publishers asking them to withdraw older versions infringes on teachers’ rights to select textbooks for their classes.
Opposition to the new high-school curriculum stems from changes to history textbooks that critics say reflect a “China-centric” view and the editing or deleting of up to 60 percent of Taiwanese history, while civics syllabi omit references to the White Terror era, the 228 Incident and democracy activist Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕).
Civic groups said that teachers should be able to choose their own textbooks, because older textbooks are still valid.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) said that all textbooks on the market have been inspected in accordance with the Regulations on the Review and Approval of Senior-High School Textbooks (高級中等學校教科用書審定辦法). [FULL STORY]
