Taiwan and education

In his article published in the April 19, 1996 edition of The Jakarta Post, Mr. A. Djuana attributed 'Taiwan's current achievements to its emphasis on the education of its children.' Mr. Djuana's observation was both precise and to the point. Indeed, the Chinese tradition of Confucianism which highlights the importance of education did serve as a major impetus in making Taiwan -- or in the case of Japan and the other three "little dragons," which include Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea -- what they are today.

However, Mr. Djuana's belief that, during the Japanese colonization of Taiwan before World War II, they "gave the Taiwanese a thorough education" was an arguable point. Most Taiwanese were poor then, and could not afford to further their education after graduating from elementary schools. The schools attended by the poor differed from the schools that educated only the Japanese and a few selected Taiwanese children. In addition, at the higher-education level, Taiwanese were banned from studying politics and law in order to prevent them from possessing knowledge that could be used to resist the colonial Japanese regime.

In the 47 years since the Republic of China (ROC) government moved its seat to the natural resource poor province of Taiwan in 1949, the ROC government has never ignored the significance of education. However, the national budget was strained through spending in order to build up Taiwan's national defenses to cope with the Chinese Communists' military threat. The whole country recognized that the only dependable and unexhausted resource was education, which has to be made available to the coming generations by both the government and parents alike. We realized that human resources were our strongest asset, and that without stressing education, we could not have come this far.

PHILIP K. LUO

Information Officer

Taipei Economic and Trade Office

Jakarta