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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 City leaders say textbook reprints has premier’s nod
Tainan Mayor William Lai, right, shakes hands with students occupying the Ministry of Education forecourt in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter
City leaders at the Executive Yuan’s Cabinet meeting yesterday claimed to have received a positive response from Premier Mao Chi-kuo （毛治國） over funding to reprint textbooks.
The Executive Yuan said it respects a resolution made during cross-caucus talks on Tuesday that grants high schools the right to choose between textbooks printed before or after adjustments were implemented to history curriculum guidelines on Saturday last week.
A joint proposal was made to the Cabinet by Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu （陳菊）, Tainan Mayor William Lai （賴清德）, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan （鄭文燦） and Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung （林佳龍）, asking the Executive Yuan to assure the effectiveness of the old curriculum guidelines, offer public funding for reprinting if schools choose to use old textbooks, and uphold transparency and openness as the basic principles for the upcoming review of the guidelines.
The Executive Yuan said that it has asked the Ministry of Education to immediately launch a project to set up review councils to examine the guidelines based on the principles of procedural justice and educational neutrality.
It said the councils’ composition should reflect professionalism and public credibility, and respond to social expectations.
Mao said the construction of a set of transparent and credible procedures and mechanisms can be achieved through legislation that guarantees education neutrality, so education materials would not be swayed by a particular set of views.
The Executive Yuan said it has asked the ministry to conduct an evaluation and deal with financial aid for schools that choose to use old textbooks.
While Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun （孫立群） said the premier did not make any promises on the issue, Kaohsiung and Tainan officials released statements saying that both city’s mayors said that Mao had made a clear, positive response to the question of whether the ministry would defray costs arising from switching to old textbooks.
The mayors said Mao did not make any affirmative promise over the promulgation of the previous curriculum guidelines to assure their effectiveness, but only said that textbooks based on the old guidelines would be made available.
Separately, Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao （林騰蛟） backed away from previous statements suggesting that the ministry would cover the costs of schools that want to switch back to textbooks based on pre-adjusted guidelines.
The ministry would only pay for “supplementary materials” explaining the guideline adjustments, Lin said.
Most schools had already completed their textbook selection process when the ministry announced in June that controversial portions of the curriculum guidelines would not be tested.（Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber）
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
