Exams, grades, and cram schools make up Taiwanese students’ everyday lives. My classmates and I are constantly sleep-deprived from memorizing Chinese poetry. Teachers are training us to memorize everything and work for high scores. However, being a test-taking machine doesn’t mean you can do well in society. To address this gap between Taiwan’s education system and practical learning, the Ministry of Education came up with the 108 Curriculum.

The 108 Curriculum

The 108 Curriculum is the new national curriculum of Taiwan that was announced in 2014 and implemented in 2019 by the Ministry of Education (MOE). The three main goals of the curriculum are to encourage enthusiasm in students, to improve students’ social skills, and to enhance students’ knowledge of sustainability and social issues.

The 108 Curriculum encourages students to work together and to understand how to apply ideas they encounter in class to real life. Teachers should also discuss international issues and news to expand students’ knowledge of global topics.

The previous curriculum was the 99 Curriculum. After implementing the 108 Curriculum, junior high students have to take the Comprehensive Assessment Program test (CAP) instead of the Basic Comprehensive Test (BCT).

The BCT was based on memorization, and test questions mainly asked for facts directly from textbooks. The tests were entirely multiple-choice, and students got docked points for each wrong answer.

For the CAP, tests have become more challenging and require more thinking. Math tests have non-multiple-choice questions, and English tests have listening comprehension questions.

Compared to the previous 99 Curriculum, the new curriculum seems more well-planned. While the 99 Curriculum focused on basic abilities, the 108 Curriculum emphasizes the core foundations announced by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. They are skills that develop students for further learning such as extracurricular activities. Students now have to participate in subjects such as home economics and performing arts.

Although the government intends to turn Taiwanese students from testing machines to engineers, musicians, or even circus performers, it has received criticism from students, parents, and teachers. The following are reasons why our new curriculum gets so much hate.

Teachers don’t understand the 108 Curriculum

Since the curriculum was implemented recently, older teachers are unfamiliar with it. The government didn’t require senior teachers to take professional development courses after the new curriculum was implemented. Therefore, they often misunderstand the new curriculum.

The 108 Curriculum focuses on critical thinking. However, the definition of critical thinking may vary. Most Taiwanese tests are still full of multiple-choice questions with one answer, and the correct choice is set by the teachers who made the test. Instead of having to come up with unique thoughts, students only improve at reading teachers’ minds.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Education might have told teachers to use the curriculum, but they aren’t enforcing its use. If the government wants students to have a better education, they should monitor teachers and make sure they are following the 108 Curriculum.

The 108 Curriculum stresses students out

As mentioned, many teachers don’t follow the curriculum. Regular or monthly tests require mind-reading abilities and photographic memory. My English teacher asks us to memorize articles from textbooks by heart. My Chinese teacher tests us by making us fill in the blanks of handouts without hints or definitions.

Furthermore, in the past, students only needed to have high scores, but they now have to make student portfolios as well. A student portfolio is a collection of student work that demonstrates a student’s skill and learning progress. After the 108 Curriculum was implemented, most colleges required them.

Student portfolios are nightmares for high school students. Colleges now look for students with good scores and organized portfolios, which means high school students have more tasks to achieve to attend the colleges on their wishlist.

The 108 Curriculum is biased toward rich students

Student portfolios are tricky enough to make, yet the curriculum makes it harder for students in rural areas who tend to be less affluent. The 108 Curriculum wants students to participate in more after-school activities. Kids from wealthier families can attend dance classes, violin lessons, or golf programs, while working-class students can only try their best to see if free lessons are available.

Fortunately, the government has started providing more winter or summer break courses for students from financially disadvantaged families. Even though these lessons haven’t become popular, it’s still a start. Hopefully, the 108 Curriculum can be fair to students and allow them to perform well in the future.

Despite the government trying to help these students, impoverished students are still disadvantaged when it comes to academic performance. In 2022, 85 percent of National Taiwan University (NTU) students are from the six special municipalities in Taiwan, Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. Even though a few rural students made it into NTU, there is still an academic gap between them and other students. Most urban students have attended cram schools and are ahead in terms of schoolwork, while poorer students have limited resources. Disadvantaged students have to strive against bias while working extra hard to keep up with those more advantaged than them.

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In conclusion, the 108 Curriculum shows improvement in Taiwanese education, but it’s still bad for students.

The government finally understands the importance of extracurricular activities, which is a good sign for Taiwanese education. However, due to the lack of government oversight, people have yet to see the positive effects of the new curriculum. Therefore, the MOE should be more strict about the implementation of this new curriculum. The government should also provide enough resources to less affluent students so they have more opportunities.

Hopefully, the 108 Curriculum is the start of a new era of preventing students from becoming test machines.