Elementary School Summer Art Class Materials Use Simplified Chinese; Taichung City Government Says They Have Been Recalled and Replaced

(CNA, reporter Hao Xueqing, Taichung, June 29) Parents in Taichung City have reported that their children's elementary school art class material packaging uses simplified Chinese characters, making it difficult for them to understand. DPP Taichung City Councilors Zhou Yonghong and Lin Deyu questioned the failure of the review mechanism today. The City Government's Education Bureau stated that the materials have been recalled and replaced, and they will supervise the strengthening of the inspection mechanism.

A parent in Shalu District, Taichung City, posted on an online social media platform that the packaging for the elementary school summer art class materials used simplified Chinese characters, causing the children to not understand and be unable to complete the activities. The school teacher's response was "Thank you for the reminder and feedback," and "feedback" is also a Chinese term, which has sparked much online discussion and criticism.

Zhou Yonghong stated that the Taichung City Education Bureau officially issued a letter in November last year, requiring teachers in schools below the senior high level to avoid using simplified Chinese teaching materials and to prioritize traditional Chinese versions when using teaching materials, extracurricular learning, and digital audio-visual resources, in order to avoid student confusion.

Zhou Yonghong believes that the regulations exist, and official documents have been issued, but the problem still occurred. This indicates that it is not an individual teacher's oversight, but a failure of the Education Bureau's material review, administrative spot checks, and implementation tracking mechanisms.

Lin Deyu stated that this matter is highly inappropriate. He demanded that Mayor Lu Xiuyan stop only speaking for the China Cross-Strait Forum, which has united-front purposes, and allow Taichung City schools to procure simplified Chinese materials, severely depriving Taichung City children of their right to learn traditional Chinese and use correct teaching materials.

The Taichung City Education Bureau responded that they have immediately requested the recall of this batch of material packages and will prepare traditional Chinese materials that meet the students' reading needs. They reiterated that teaching materials and related learning materials should all use traditional Chinese.

The Education Bureau pointed out that upon investigation, this case involved a teacher ordering art materials for summer self-study. However, some of the instructions on the material packages provided by the vendor were printed in simplified Chinese, which was not discovered during the procurement inspection. They will continue to supervise all schools to implement relevant regulations, strengthen the inspection mechanism for procurement of teaching materials and supplies before purchase, and prevent similar situations from happening again. (Editor: Zhang Mingkun) 1150629

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