[News] Gifted student exams are 'illegal and ridiculous', MOE c

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   gifted student exams are 'illegal and ridiculous', MOE claims
   The Ministry of Education emphasized on Thursday that the joint
   examination for selecting "gifted sixth-grade students" held by
   local governments in central Taiwan last Saturday is "invalid,"
   urging these local governments to suspend such examinations and to
   select gifted students in accordance with the appropriate laws.

   Last Saturday, over 20,000 sixth-grade elementary school students,
   participated in the joint examination sponsored by Taichung County
   Government, Taichung City Government, Changhua County Government
   and Nantou County Government.

   Chou Tsan-der (周燦德), deputy minister of the MOE, said that even
   though local governments have the power to hold such examinations,
   they are "not entitled" to use the exams as a gauge of which
   students are "gifted" and form special classes for them, because
   the way in which the exams evaluate the students violates the
   Special Education Act and related laws.

   However, despite the MOE's contentions, elementary and primary
   education are, under current laws, controlled by local
   governments.

   The local governments of Nantou County and Changhua County, which
   have stressed the legality of the tests, have dealt the MOE a slap
   in the face by announcing their decision to continue such exams as
   scheduled, with a second being held on Saturday.

   The National Alliance of Parents Organization and the National
   Teachers' Association criticized the exam for trying to "establish
   classes of gifted students based purely on test results." The
   groups claimed that pushing students to pursue high scores
   distorted the "true spirit of education" for genuinely gifted
   students.

   The National Teachers' Association urged the MOE to put a stop to
   this way of thinking, warning that elementary school students
   would end up spending all their spare time in cram schools in
   order to be accepted into classes for gifted students later in
   their academic lives.

   Speaking at the Legislative Yuan on Thursday, Education minister
   Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) explained why the exams violated laws
   stipulating how a child should be identified as gifted and their
   ensuing placement in special classes.

   Tu stressed that, under current laws, the identification and
   placement of gifted students should be implemented by a
   professional committee, a principle to which he claimed the local
   governments in question had not adhered.

   Moreover, the laws state that before children can be identified as
   gifted students, they must take a range of tests and be
   recommended by teachers, parents or experts who must provide
   information corroborating claims regarding the children's ability.
   Also, gifted students should first be "found" by schools and then
   introduced to appropriate special education classes, or have such
   classes set up for them.

   Not only did the joint examination decide which students were
   gifted through a written test, the schools concerned established
   special classes before the students were "identified," the MOE
   said.

   Chou also pointed out what he called a "ridiculous aspect" of the
   system, namely that students were required to pass tests of
   language ability, and math or science to gain entry into classes
   for talented art students.

   A clearly upset Yang Hsiu-pi, vice president of the NTA, stressed
   that the welfare of the children should be the priority, noting
   that gifted children face unbelievable pressures.

   "I've found that many children who study in gifted class have to
   study until 2 a.m." said Yang.

   These children are required to do well across the board, but a
   talented student is not necessarily good at every subject, she
   pointed out. "I really do not want to see any more gifted children
   commit suicide," said a tearful Yang.

   However, according to local media, many parents and students who
   participated in the exam, or who have been preparing for such
   exams, were disappointed with the MOE's announcement that the exam
   is illegitimate and by its request that the exams be suspended.

   The parents of one student surnamed Huang noted that they have
   spent over NT$100,000 on cram school fees in a bid to help their
   daughter pass the exam and gain entry into a special class for
   gifted children.

   One student surnamed Sun said she was devastated that she had
   studied so hard for the exam, and that her effort now appeared to
   be in vain.

   However, Tu responded by insisting that the "genius" of what he
   called "genuinely gifted" children was "innate" and that no one
   could become "gifted" just by attending classes at school.

   Source:Taiwan News(2006/05/19 13:44:20)


   URL:http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=104110&lang
   =eng_news&cate_img=49.jpg&cate_rss=news_Society


※ 編輯: zmcse           來自: 59.115.130.97        (05/21 13:17)
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