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EDITORIAL: Lack of
accountability in failed policy
The Ministry of Education decided on Wednesday to discontinue the tri-city high
school entrance exam, rejecting a major education policy of Taipei Mayor Hau
Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) administration. The move came shortly after the exam sparked
dispute over its problematic admissions threshold.
The ministry’s announcement was a slap in the face for Hau, who introduced the
exam as part of his “single-version textbook” policy in 2008 to oppose the
then-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s multiple-textbook policy,
which promoted diverse learning. The rights of students in the three
participating municipalities — Taipei, New Taipei City (新北市) and Keelung — were
sacrificed in the name of politics as the problematic policy was introduced and
poorly implemented.
Political confrontation overrode educational considerations in these cities’
policy-making processes. Because of Hau’s collaboration with New Taipei City and
Keelung in adopting the policy, students were forced to use different textbooks
than their peers in other cities and counties, while they had to take entrance
exams that were held on the same day as the national entrance exam.
Mounting opposition from parents and students because of miscalculations of
reference scores and complicated admissions procedures finally forced the
ministry to put an end to the exam. However, a sense of uncertainty remains for
more than 200,000 junior-high school students who used the city-designated
textbooks.
Education is a key foundation to the nation’s development, and education
policies should be shaped through comprehensive considerations. It is
regrettable that the mayor of Taipei set a bad example by allowing political
ideology to interfere with education policies.
Hau’s failure to take full responsibility for his erronous policy is especially
notable when compared with the recent resignation of the mayor of Seoul after a
referendum on his school lunch policy.
Oh See-hoon stepped down on Friday after Seoul residents voted against his
policy that free school lunches should only be available for children from poor
families.
Oh, 50, was considered a possible presidential candidate for the ruling
conservatives. He put his job on the line to stop what he called destructive
welfare, and when he lost the referendum, he kept his promise to quit.
In sharp contrast, of all the officials involving in formulating the tri-city
policy, including Hau and Minister of Education Wu Ching-chi (吳清基), who helped
outline the policy as a former Education Department commissioner in Taipei City,
the only one to take responsibility for its failure was former Education
Department commissioner Kang Tzong-hu (康宗虎), who stepped down earlier this
month.
Hau promised to present a post-exam report on the problematic reference scores
and admissions threshold and finalize a list of officials to be penalized, but
has not lived up to his promise.
When asked about his responsibility for the policy, Hau simply apologized for
the termination of the tri-city entrance exam and said his team would
communicate with parents and students while discussing -follow-up measures with
schools, revealing his evasive attitude during the biggest storm of his
political career.
Some critics said the ministry’s abrupt announcement that it would discontinue
the exam aimed to eliminate the negative impact of the policy and pave the way
for the 12-year compulsory education policy, a major education reform under
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.
The 12-year policy, which will extend compulsory education from nine years to 12
years by 2014, lacks substantial guidelines and detailed plans. If the central
government fails to learn from the example of the tri-city high school exam
debacle and launches a major education reform policy in haste, our children’s
rights to a proper education will once again be sacrificed.
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