Mingder High School barred from recruiting

The Ministry of Education recently banned a private high school in Pingtung County from recruiting students for the next academic year due to irregularities with the school board and financial difficulties, a ministry official said yesterday.

The ruling temporarily halts the ministry's decision in May to have Mingder High School (明德中學) closed. In the light of the school's claim that it has been treated unfairly, that decision is to be reviewed by the special commission on private schools which recommended it in the first place.

"The ministry made the decision to protect the interests of the students, during a period when schools are recruiting. The education ministry had to first put a halt to Mingder High School's

recruitment activities to prevent trouble from occurring if the school were eventually closed," said ministry official Chen Ching-chi (陳清溪).

But the official said that the decision did not rule out the possibility of the school still being closed down if the commission still considered closure the appropriate course of action.

"Right now the case is going through a set of procedural formalities. The school will be permitted an opportunity to communicate with the ministry before a final decision is reached by the commission," Chen said.

In May, the commission recommended the closure of Mingder, which had 109 students and a faculty of 23 last semester, on the grounds that the school had financial problems and a poorly-functioning board. The decision, however, has sparked outcries from board members, who say the ministry has adopted double standards when handling disputes surrounding private schools.

They say they believe it unfair that the ministry decided to close down a small school while other schools facing far more severe problems but with larger faculties, more students and resources are allowed to remain open.

Only 56 students remain at the school. That number is expected to drop because of the recruitment ban.

Principal Chen Shih-hsiung (陳世雄) responded to the news calmly yesterday, saying the school would respect the decision, because it was "a less severe penalty than having the school closed."

The principal still entertains high hopes for the school. He said he was confident that it would be upgraded to a technological institute if the disputes between board members were solved.