| dc.description.abstract | Elementary schools of indigenous township (山地國民學校) were national educational facilities in indigenous townships (山地鄉) that were reorganized and established when the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office took over schools of indigenous children (教育所) and elementary schools (國民學校) under the education system of the Japanese Colonial Period after the World War II. Most of the students were san-di indigenous peoples (山地原住民族). This article aimed to focus on the system as the theme, and examined its development between 1945 and the implementation of the nine-year compulsory education in 1968 by using government notices, archives, and investigation reports. In execution of the “assimilation” of indigenous peoples, elementary schools of indigenous township followed the guidelines of fully promoting Mandarin, providing training on agricultural production technology, and administering health education. By focusing on children’s personal health conditions through health education, the schools expected the children to have an impact on their family environment and drive the public health in indigenous townships. In respective to funding, since the finance of indigenous townships was not independent, the schools’ funding mainly came from the provincial treasury. The funds were used to renovate schools, purchase equipment, and provide student assistance, school staff rewards, as well as subsidies. However, either the application or the granting processes were cumbersome or the funds were small, and both affected school operations. Despite staff recruitment through different channels, school staff remained consistently on shortage. Meanwhile, unqualified staff was dismissed for the promotion of Mandarin. Regarding the curriculum and teaching materials, the authority used “cultural lag” as an excuse and prepared special textbooks for the indigenous curriculum (山地適用教科書). The purpose was to shape the indigenous peoples as Chinese Nation (中華民族). After graduation, students were recommended to normal schools, secondary schools, and vocational schools for admission with indigenous student scholarships. In addition to concerns about an imbalanced number of admissions, successful candidates could drop out due to reasons such as academic competence and traffic. Limited by the amount of funding, they were unable to make other considerations. Based on the above investigation, the authority in the early post-war period used “slow cultural development” as an excuse for the differentiation of indigenous elementary schools’ education system. The schools focused on the principle of “assimilating” indigenous peoples. Under such a dual structure, the indigenous peoples were passively incorporated into an education system that used “assimilation” as a means of manipulation. | en_US |