Promoting
the 12-Year National Basic Education program is one of the most important
educational reforms in Taiwan, and one which the general public is giving extremely
close attention. With this understanding in mind, we would like to emphasize
once again that the Ministry of Education embraces the principles of
diversification, professionalism, and a completely open and transparent process
at all times when formulating new curricula guidelines.
When
dealing with the current issues related to curricula guidelines, the Ministry
of Education is taking the following actions in order to achieve our shared
goals:
1.
Parallel use of both the old and the new
textbooks.
2.
Controversial parts in either version of
the textbooks will NOT be used as material for national tests.
3.
Auxiliary teaching materials addressing
the differences between the old and new textbooks are being compiled.
4.
A review of curricula guidelines is
being commissioned.
5.
A mechanism for regular communication is
being established.
6.
We will ensure an open and transparent
process for formulating curricula guidelines.
As
always, the Ministry of Education works to implement every educational policy
embracing the principles of moderation, creativity, professionalism, and
pragmatism. We sincerely hope that our society will be able to face this
current historical controversy with a positive attitude, and be able to
appreciate and accept different viewpoints. We welcome and look forward to
engaging in rational dialogue and discussion on issues related to curricula
guidelines in a spirit of academic professionalism. And we hope that this will
allow our education profession to once again generously embrace and reflect mutual
respect.