3135 Edition
March 26-April 1, 2012
Editorial

Translated by Lydia Ma

According to the PCT church calendar, the first Sunday of April is Church School Sunday, an occasion set aside to remember the purpose and function of schools founded by the PCT. If we exclude seminaries from the list of church schools, then, the list of PCT church schools today would include: Tamkang High School, Aletheia University, Mackay Medicine, Nursing, and Management College, Mackay Medical College, Chang-Jung Senior High School, Chang-Jung Girls’ Senior High School, and Chang-Jung Christian University.

With the exception of Mackay Medical College, all of these institutions were founded by Western missionaries over 100 years ago. Looking back, we marvel that despite the scarcity of resources available to missionaries at the time, they were nevertheless very determined to establish these schools. Their efforts at the time are worth pondering upon for they may provide us with some answers to the question, “What is the purpose of church schools today?”

Western missionaries who founded schools in Taiwan were not only leading proponents of mass education in Taiwan, but also leading critics of a sexist culture at a time when men were valued over women. As a means to rid Taiwanese society of this prejudice, missionaries began to advocate for formal education for women and a halt to cultural practices that oppressed women, such as foot-binding. More importantly, they began to instill Christian values into the hearts of younger generations and shape thoughts of the next generation via education in schools.

The demand for education and learning institutions in Taiwan at the turn of the 20th century was very high, which made church schools attractive and outstanding at the time. However, times have changed and school admission rates nowadays allegedly exceed 100% after public and private institutions are taken into account. This transformation not only puts Christian schools in direct competition with public and private schools in terms of securing enrollments every year, it also pressures them to outperform other schools in the category of producing outstanding graduates who go on to prestigious universities and big corporations – perhaps the only marker of a good school in prevailing public opinion.

However, is producing graduates who go on to prestigious corporations and universities the original founding vision of these Christian schools? Will church schools follow the prevailing social trend that worships academic degrees or can they provide an alternative educational philosophy and curriculum that is far better in comparison?

Public schools in France are forbidden from disseminating religious values in their curriculum and Muslim women student are forbidden from wearing a hijabs in public schools. Under such circumstances, Muslim schools have become a refuge where students can practice their religious beliefs and exercise freedom of religion.

A quick overview of other countries shows that Japanese church schools refused to incorporate patriotic values into their curriculum as prescribed by the government because they felt that these values were manipulative. Church schools in the Africa, a continent ravaged by civil war, have been known for their contributions to improving agricultural work and public health.

What about Taiwan? Can Taiwanese church schools carve out a path that is both original and different from the values advocated in public schools and governments that only focus on the accumulation and worship of degrees? Rev. Ichiro Yamauchi, former chairman of the board of directors of Japan’s Association of Christian Schools, once said, “As we face the social pressures of the day, we must remember to keep an eye on the future. The purpose and mission of church schools in this society is to teach people to have the courage to hope.”

As Taiwan faces the difficult road ahead, marred by crises of self-identity and a government keen on muddling issues and revising history for its own short-term gains, uncertainty about the future of the country abounds. However, we can begin reversing the tide and influencing this culture to think with eternity in mind through education. It is high time for us to rediscover the passion that fueled former missionaries and in so doing give this generation the ability to dream of creating a diverse and better society.