Taiwan’s schools ban GM foods

ACCEPTABLE INCREASE:Parents were invited to choose between a minor cost increase or a change of menu to conform to new legislation on children’s school lunches

Staff writer, with CNA

Cities and counties showed mixed reactions after amendments to the School Health Act (學校衛生法) passed by the legislature last month that ban the use of genetically modified (GM) food ingredients or processed food with such ingredients in school meals.

The ban is to be implemented next month at the earliest.

The Ministry of Education has estimated the cost of each meal is likely to increase by between NT$2 and NT$5. The New Taipei City Education Department said that it gave parents questionnaires to choose from various options.

The questionnaires showed that parents at 245 schools chose not adjust the meal fees, while 33 schools decided to adjust the fee by between NT$2 and NT$5 and 19 schools decided to cut the number of days fruit would be provided.

Huang Ching-yi (黃靜怡) deputy director of New Taipei City’s Department of Education, said before the amendment 144 New Taipei City schools had already banned the use of genetically modified food, so the impact is expected to be minor.

The government has allowed parents at schools to make their own choices and many decided that an increase of between NT$2 and NT$5 was acceptable.

The Taoyuan Department of Education said the financial situation of the city is the best among the six municipalities, and it is to foot the bill for the NT$5 increase to use non-genetically modified ingredients in school meals. It is estimated that the city is likely to increase its budget by more than NT$40 million (US$1.2 million) to cover the cost of the subsidies.

Miaoli County Department of Education said that most schools have adopted the approach of cutting the number of days they provide fruit from two days to one day per week.

The department said that although the number of days fruit is being provided has been cut, it will continue to ensure students have a healthy and balanced diet under the guidance of nutritionists.

Chiayi County Department of Education said that finances are strained and it is hoping that the central government can pay the additional cost of using non-GM food ingredients. The department said that soybean products are a common ingredient in school meals, and the ban would have a great impact.

The department said it is likely to increase inspections to ensure that manufacturers provide certifications to verify products are not from genetically modified sources.

MOE stymies curriculum review board

BLANKS:‘Omissions and circles are everywhere in the minutes,’ one activist said, referring to the redaction of some committee members’ names from meeting records

By Abraham Gerber  /  Staff Reporter

Action Coalition of Civics Teachers spokesman Huang I-chung, second right, and some other teachers and activists yesterday hold a press conference in Taipei, demanding that the Ministry of Education withdraw its adjustments to high-school curriculum guidelines.

Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times

Consideration of new high-school curriculum guidelines ground to a halt yesterday, after the Ministry of Education announced that it is to disband the current curriculum review committee pending the May 20 government changeover.

The review committee would only undertake a review of the conclusion of a history experts’ consultation committee and present a report to the National Academy for Educational Research for its consideration on social studies guidelines, Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) said.

The ministry had originally intended to publicly announce new sets of curriculum guidelines between this month and May, he said.

The ministry would revise directives governing the review committee to make it reorganize ahead of schedule in June, after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration assumes office, requiring new committee members to agree to the publication of their names.

Names of current members would not be publicized without their consent, he said, adding that there was no need to withdraw controversial “adjusted” high-school social studies curriculum guidelines, because the ministry had already allowed for schools to continue to use unaltered textbooks.

The ministry’s decision came following pressure from DPP legislators, who earlier in the day held a news conference with students’ rights advocates to demand that the adjusted guidelines be withdrawn and consideration of new guidelines stopped.

The adjusted guidelines sparked controversy with what critics described as the opaque “black box” method of their approval and an allegedly “China-centric” bias, sparking a student movement last year that occupied the ministry’s courtyard and leading to calls that consideration of new guidelines be halted pending institutional reforms.

DPP Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) yesterday morning accused the ministry of seeking to present Tsai’s future administration with a fait accompli by forcing through new guidelines before it hands over power.

Cheng said that her motion to require the ministry to delay considerations on the new guidelines until a comprehensive review of the approval process was conducted had already been signed by 64 legislators — enough to gain passage when the new session opens on Feb. 19.

“The current administration is a caretaker administration and should respect public opinion instead of muddling through with its opaque ‘black box’ approval processes,” DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) said.

Civic activists called for the full publication of the meeting records of the curriculum review committee.

“Omissions and circles are everywhere in the minutes,” said Anti-Black Box Curriculum Guidelines Action Alliance spokesman Huang Yi-chung (黃益中), referring to the “circles” used in place of Chinese characters for the names of committee members who chose to remain anonymous.

Knowing committee members’ names is important for activists to be able to hold officials accountable for their remarks, as well as to verify their qualifications, National High School Teachers’ Union deputy secretary-general Huang Hui-chen (黃惠貞) said.

Incomplete meeting records also made it impossible for activists to verify how important decisions were made, she said, citing a controversial decision to increase the proportion of Mandarin language classes and make the study of selections from the Four Books of Confucian canon mandatory.

Activists also called for review committee budget details to be published.

Additional reporting by Rachel Lin