Students to have career options
The Ministry of Education will revise the educational system to provide a "multi-track" system in secondary and higher education.
Education Minister Yen Chen-hsing said high school students will choose careers according to aptitude and ability.
Reporting to the Legislative Yuan, Minister Yen said students will have the following choices after junior high school: senior high, senior vocational and technical schools, junior colleges and armed forces NCO schools.
Vocational training will become the backbone of the educational structure above the ninth grade.
Yen reported the student population in 1968 was 3,614,776, accounting for 26.38 per cent of the total. The breakdown was 161,220 in college, 921,166 in middle school and 2,383,204 in primary schools. The rest were in kindergartens, supplementary schools and schools for the physically handicapped.
Education accounted for 4.02 per cent of the Central Government's budget last year. The proportion for the Provincial Government was 31.47 per cent and that for local governments was 53.25 per cent. The total spent on education was NT$6,105, 948,310 (US$152,648,708) in 1968.
The Provincial Education Department said the ratio of high school and vocational school students was 6 to 4 last year. The government hopes to reverse the ratio in 10 years.
For the current school year, the enrollment of senior high schools is 148,800 compared with 117,400 in senior vocational school.
Schools will admit 3,500 overseas Chinese students in the fall semester. The Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission said 2,400 will attend colleges and universities, 345 will go to five-year vocational junior colleges and 450 will enter classes at the overseas Chinese technical training center.
Teachers needed for primary schools
For the first time in Taiwan's education history, there is an acute shortage of primary school teachers.
As a result of the nine-year free education program that was started with the 1968-69 school year, many primary teachers have been promoted to junior high schools. Five hundred more will make the change this fall.
Other primary teachers have left for higher paid jobs. The shortage exceeds 1,000 teachers.
Eight normal colleges are training primary school teachers. They will graduate 1,480 this year. But 1,580 will be needed for new classes next fall. Additionally, the government wants to reduce the size of classes.
To solve the problem, the Provincial Education Department is considering the employment of vocational school graduates as substitute teachers after a period of training. Enrollment at normal colleges will be increased for long-run termination of the shortage.
East Asian music conference slated
The Music Society of the Republic of China will be host to an East Asian music conference next year.
Representatives from the Philippines, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia and Hongkong will attend the meeting slated to open on Music Day April 5.
At its 10th annual conference at the Taipei International House last April 5, the Music Society adopted the following resolutions:
-To establish a center to facilitate exchange of music information.
-To strengthen research and the promotion of music education.
-To help the Ministry of Education carry out a long-range music development plan.
Use of simplified characters proposed
Gen. Ho Ying-chin, chairman of the Strategy Advisory Committee to the President, has suggested use of simplified Chinese characters that were developed before the Communist occupation of the mainland.
The general, who is a member of the Central Advisory Committee of the Kuomintang, made the suggestion at the first plenary session the Nationalist Party's Central committee. He said the simplified characters came into being naturally and are essential to everyday communication.
Gen. Ho suggested the re-education of mainland youth after the of the Peiping regime will require the simplified characters. He propose that the Ministry of Education the Academia Sinica study the simplified characters already in existence to determine which of them might be recognized.
Gen. Ho is the first ranking government leader to endorse the simplified Chinese characters since early 1930s, when the government experimented with the idea.
Lin Yutang has expressed his support of Gen. Ho's proposal. Writing in his syndicated column in Chine China's leading writer in English said simplification of characters has nothing to do with the preservation Chinese culture.
He cited the case of the Kang Hsi Dictionary, which has 45,000 characters. Of them, 35,000 are obsolete or no longer used at all.
Dr. Lin said the dictionary preserves "cultural dregs, not cultural essence". He said 3,500 characters are sufficient for everyday use.
"If scholars prefer to write classics with a vocabulary of more than 10,000 characters, that's their business and has nothing to do with al industry-oriented society," he said.
There also should be a standardized way to write each characters, he said. Variants should be eliminated
Dr. Lin urged the Ministry of Education to assume the responsibility for giving the written Chinese language a major "surgical operation".
Confucius, Mencius linked to science
President Chiang Kai-shek has expressed hope the teachings and thoughts of Confucius and Mencius will promote the study and development of science.
In a message to the annual convention of the Confucius-Mencius Society, the President said the thought of the ancient Chinese sages is "forward looking" and not outdated.
He pointed out that both Confucius and Mencius attacked the problems of their times with methods that would be called scientific in 1969.
He urged the Confucius-Mencius Society to develop the scientific spirit so as to influence the thinking and action of the people.
The presidential message was read by Presidential Secretary-General Chang Chun.
The ninth annual meeting of the society was held April 20 at the Taipei City Hall and was attended by more than 400 members.
New measures to stem brain drain
The Executive Yuan (Cabinet) has decided on new measures to combat the brain drain and recruit Chinese talent from abroad to meet domestic needs.
The Cabinet hopes to keep more professional people and technicians at home by improving research facilities, pay, opportunities for promotion and jobs in industry.
Government will keep Chinese intellectuals abroad informed of major programs and progress with a view to interesting them in home assignments.
Experts recruited abroad for government service may receive pay ranging from NT$6,000 to NT$15,000 (US$150 to US$375) per month, about five times higher than usual. They will be given one-year contracts that can be extended.
Science cooperation plans approved
The National Science Council has drafted plans for implementation of the Sino-U.S. science and scholarly cooperation agreement signed in Taipei last January.
The plans were drawn up by NSC's liaison group headed by Dr. Y.S. Tsiang after three meetings with Dr. Walter Hodge, Tokyo resident representative of the U.S. National Science Foundation.
NSC is the executive agency for China and the National Science Foundation is the executive agency for the United States.
Other participants in the three-day discussion included Dr. Bruce Billings, special assistant for science and technology to the U.S. ambassador in Taipei; Prof. K. P. Zi, NSC executive secretary; and Wang Chi-wu, NSC liaison officer.
A Joint Executive Committee will be set up by NSC and NSF with three to five members from each to maintain close and frequent contacts. Meetings will be held in Washington or Taipei as required.
NSC will maintain close relations with Dr. Hodge's Tokyo office. NSF Tokyo will be requested to make relevant information available to NSC, to arrange for Chinese scientists and scholars to participate in U.S.-Japanese seminars and arrange for Japan-bound U.S. scientists to visit Taiwan.
Cooperation will extend to the natural sciences and mathematics, engineering sciences and technology, biological, medical and agricultural sciences, social sciences and education. Activities will include seminars, cooperative research and exchange of personnel for observation, training, lectures, etc.
Nine young people receive awards
Nine young people were given awards by the China Youth Corps in Taipei City Hall ceremonies on Youth Day.
Miss Shen Pao-ni, 15, of Chekiang province, a student at Huachiang High School in Taipei, was recognized for achievement in sports. She won six swimming titles in national competition and was a member of the Chinese Olympic team last year.
Hsieh Teng-liang, 28, of Taichung, helped aborigine young people build a youth activity center. He is a junior official at the Hoping village government office in Taichung.
Wang Ying-shih, 20, of Taitung county, was cited for achievement in sports. He won the pentathlon and decathlon gold medals at the 23rd Provincial Athletic Meet and the decathlon gold medal in the Sino Philippines track and field meet.
Li Kai-hsiung, 21, from Hongkong, is a student at the Catholic Fu Jen University. Before coming to Taiwan, he had two exhibitions of cartoons on the atrocities of the Chinese Communists.
Chou Cheng-chih, 20, of Taipei county, won honors for boxing. He was the light heavyweight champion last year and a member of the Chinese team that met Korea.
Miss Li Hsiao-tung, 20, a student at the Catholic Fu Jen University, was cited for social service. She has been active in helping orphans, lepers and the deaf, dumb and blind.
Miss Lin Ya-mei, 18, of Changhua county, distinguished herself in music, folk dance and calligraphy. She has won first prizes in several provincial and international competitions.
Tu Yuan-hsun, 23, of Changhua county, was cited for responding to the Kuomintang social service campaign and Madame Chiang Kai-shek's drive for funds to help Vietnamese refugees.
Wu Chin-sheng, 35, of Pingtung county, won honors for his public spirit. Although not from a wealthy family, he has contributed more than NT$30,000 to help needy students pay tuition.
Ikebana displays flowers, scrolls
Members of Ikebana International held an art and flower arrangement exhibition at the Taiwan Provincial Museum April 10-13.
Scrolls from the Art Guild collection were displayed. Participants were: Liu Kuo-sun with four scrolls entitled "Mountains", "Autumn Symphony", "Improvisation of Autumn" and "Autumn Mountains"; Chen Ting-shih with "At Dawn" and "Earth, Sun, Moon"; Wu Hao with "Sunflowers"; and Lee Wen-han with "Birds". Four scrolls of Ling Tzeng were also on display.
Seven countries were represented by flower arrangements: the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and the Republic of China.
This year's exhibit was the largest yet by Ikebana. There were 87 individual flower arrangements by members.
Flying school to be established
Communications Minister Sun Yun-suan has announced the government will establish a flying school to train pilots and maintenance personnel for commercial airlines.
Sun said pilots of Chinese Airlines are either retired officers of the Chinese Air Forces or foreigners. A school to train pilots and engineers is urgently needed.
Mao Ying-tsu, director of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, said his agency will send representatives abroad to study other flying schools. Mao, a retired CAF general, said CAA is planning to train managerial personnel as well as pilots and engineers. A bachelor's degree will be required for admission to the pilots course.