One country, many systems
In terms of transforming the educational structure, Michael Tseng believes that education must be loosened from its previous straitjacket so that schools can be like "educational enterprises," with dynamism, flexibility, and autonomy, so that they can rebuild professionalism and self-confidence.
For a long time, the Ministry of Education treated all schools, public and private, regardless of level, as bureaucratic agencies over which it had control. The MOE exercised detailed management of all aspects of school life, including personnel, accounting, curriculum, and examinations. However, since passage of the Education Basic Law in 1999, power over education has been steadily devolved, and the bureaus of education in each city and county can now make different adjustments depending on their own needs and ideas.
Primary school English is a case in point. To meet the challenge of globalization, one of the main issues of education reform has been when to begin teaching English. Although MOE regulations state that English classes must begin by the fifth grade, Taipei City, which is financially better off, recently announced that starting in September English classes will begin in first grade, while Hsinchu City, which has the golden-egg laying Science-Based Industrial Park, has moved its English classes up two years, beginning them in third grade. Indeed, even within a single city or county, individual schools can speed up or slow down depending upon their resources. To have "one country, many systems" like this is something that was unimaginable under the old regime, in which every action was determined by a specific order from the top.
With the devolution of power and "one country, many systems," various cities and counties have entered into friendly competition, with many new ideas springing up. However, for the poorer or more remote cities and counties, not only are many of the educational policies of urban areas difficult to implement, they are not necessarily even seen as appropriate.
Huang-Lin Shuang-bu, director of the Bureau of Education in Pingtung County, which is located at the very tail end of Taiwan, points out that Pingtung is sparsely populated and has 31 schools in remote areas with less than 100 students each. Many schools lack the funds even for nurses or teachers of art or music, so students do not even have the right to have a stomach ache, much less English language classes.
Huang-Lin further has his doubts about central government concepts like "the global village." These are rather vague and abstract to him, and he would rather put his resources to use teaching students Taiwanese, to develop "real Taiwanese" who know and love their own homeland. Teacher training in Pingtung County focuses mainly on knowledge about Taiwan and concern for local life.
The devolution of power over education means that local governments are now the ones in charge. Not surprisingly, various groups have arisen which are asserting their rights to participate in and monitor educational decision-making at this level. These can complement and balance new local government powers. The most representative are teachers' associations and parents' associations.
These junior high school students take advantage of a break in their three days of final exams to compare answers; kids are still under a lot of competitive pressure when it comes to advancement to higher grades.