Letter: What's the CLA up to?

When the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) announces plans for new regulations to limit the number of hours that foreign English teachers may teach to 32 per week ("CLA to limit English teachers' hours," March 18, page 1), one wonders what its ultimate goals really are.

Chou Ting-an (周丁安), chief of research and planning at the council's Vocational Training and Employment Department, did not cite any research showing that there has been a decline in English teaching quality or that over-worked, exploited foreign English teachers are responsible for the problem -- if it does exist. Nor does Chou explain why foreign English teachers should be singled out when most English instruction in Taiwan is carried out by Taiwanese school teachers. Nor does he give any rationale for excluding teachers of other languages. All he does is make an unsupported prediction that, "If there are no restrictions, the employers will increase the hours indefinitely and affect the overall quality of the teaching."

The reader is left guessing why Chou doesn't trust public school principals or bushibanbosses to make their own decisions regarding the quality of instruction that goes on in their institutions. Or for that matter, why Chou is trying to steal the Ministry of Education's thunder. A decline in the quality of teaching is properly their concern, isn't it?

Are there masses of over-worked, foreign English teachers bitching about too many classroom hours on the Internet? I think not. Sure, bitching goes on, but too many classroom hours is not an issue. There are too many other ways in which foreign English teachers are screwed.

I am not convinced that the Council of Labor Affairs wants to better our lot, but if it does, it ought to first find out what the problem areas are.

Bruce Franklin
Taipei