At the Cabinet meeting held today, Premier Mao Chi-kuo asked the Ministry of Education (MOE) to implement education plans for remote areas as quickly as possible and to incorporate into the regular educational system those teaching materials and methods that have proven successful in these areas on an experimental basis.
"This will enliven, change and improve the entire formal education system," the premier said.
Mao made these remarks after the MOE reported about the progress made on plans for creative development of education in remote areas. The plans' short-term targets include the establishment of digital teaching materials resource centers and teachers' platforms for pedagogic exchanges. The best-performing schools will be selected as models and will be visited by other schools' teachers, who will bring what they observe back to their own schools. Mao asked the MOE to finish putting all plans in place and launch them by 2015.
Moreover, to speed up Internet connections in elementary and junior high schools nationwide, Mao instructed the MOE to work with other government agencies on installing 100Mbps optical-fiber broadband at all schools and improving the Internet concentration ratio on campuses by the end of 2015. He asked Vice Premier Chang San-cheng to oversee this plan for narrowing the digital divide in remote areas.
In the mid- to long term, promoting educational development in remote areas requires integration of cross-ministerial resources, Premier Mao stressed. He tasked the National Development Council to coordinate and oversee this project.
Aside from relevant measures proposed by the MOE, ideally, schools in remote areas must be equipped to function as community as well as educational centers, the premier stated. If remote schools were closed, community development would be affected; moreover, in special remote areas schools also play the social role of supporting families.
The premier hopes that through incorporation of relevant measures of the Ministry of Labor and other agencies, youths from remote hometowns will be encouraged to return there for career advancement so as to energize local development.
In response to Taoyuan City Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan's proposals of building a library cloud and conducting exchanges between urban and rural students, the premier asked the MOE to proactively promote such measures.
The MOE stated that this year it will implement an innovative action plan on experimental digital learning by instituting a mechanism for colleges and universities to "adopt" remote elementary and junior high schools for a long term. The colleges' and universities' students will be recruited for digital learning classes to serve students at the adopted schools. The ministry will also promote joint learning by new immigrant parents and children.
In addition, the MOE is promoting the integration of digital opportunity centers and Active Aging Learning Centers, and setting up resource matching platforms that would also connect social groups.