Education Ministry Adds More Field Trips to Boost Tourism|挹注國旅產業 校外教學從每年1次變2次

The Ministry of Education has joined hands with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for the first time and as a result, the annual school field trip will be changed to once per semester which means there will be two school field trips per year for elementary and high schools students.


An update to public school curriculum rolls out in August. From now on, field trips for elementary and high schools will grow from once a year to once per semester. Some tourism industry professionals estimate that the change could bring a total of four million domestic travelers per year, including the parents who are present on school trips.

The students alone contribute to 1.8 million travelers per year. When we double (the frequency of field trips), the figure goes to 3.6 million. And if some of the younger students need to be accompanied by parents, the figure will go even higher.

However, some tourism professionals believe school field trips don't generate the same level of revenue as other tours. While most other domestic tour groups stay at locations such as the Guest Ranch for at least half a day, the students tend to stay for only two hours. The average price per person for a day trip is usually NT$1200, whereas students only cost NT$600 per person. A tourism industry professional admits that student tour groups generate considerably lower profit margin and he worries that the change would only lead to more problems to the already limited tour bus service.

These low-cost tours would only lead to higher demand in the already limited domestic tour bus market and finding a place to stay will be even harder. They don't generate more profit for hotel and restaurant owners.

What are they trying to do, to stimulate the tourism industry with education, or are they trying to use traveling to improve education? These are two different concepts and they should be not linked together.

Parents groups question whether improving the frequency of field trips will actually improve the quality of education. However, the change will certainly bring more financial burden to families from rural or impoverished areas. The parents believe the decision should be made by parents and teachers.



108學年度新課綱上路後，未來國中小校外教學將由目前每年一次調整為每學期一次，有觀光業者推估，包括隨團的家長，每年將可帶來400萬人次的國旅觀光效益。

國民旅遊發展協會理事長 朱永達表示：「學生加起來有180萬人，兩倍就360萬，如果有的小朋友比較小一點，需要家長帶出來，還會再帶動。」

但專營國旅的業者認為，其實校外教學，畢竟不是旅遊團，就算到了同樣景點，效益也完全不同，以到觀光農場一日遊為例，校外教學大約只會停留兩小時，一般國旅行程至少停留半天，校外教學學生每人費用600元，國旅一般大人每人費用要1200元，業者不諱言校外教學團的利潤低，憂心這樣強制一年兩次的校外教學，將造成國旅市場"搶遊覽車的狀況"更加嚴重。

旅遊業者 林義順表示：「低廉的旅遊市場的出現，只是在幫國民旅遊搶車、搶房而已，而且對店家、對所有的飯店、對旅遊市場，並沒有辦法增進實質上的效益。」

全國十二年國教家長聯盟副理事長 陳綺貞表示：「到底是你要用教育去救國旅？還是用國旅來成就教育？這兩個不應該是拿出來相提並論，然後綁在一起。」

而家長團體則認為，校外教學從一年一次變成兩次，究竟能帶來甚麼樣的教學效果還不得而知，但對於弱勢或偏鄉學生，將造成費用上的負擔，認為不該把校外教學次數提高，當作是振興國民旅遊的一項措施，應回歸到教學現場讓教師自主規劃。