The Ministry of Education supports the power of local universities to expel students for misdemeanors or academic failure, Vice Education Minister Lu Mu-lin (呂木琳) said yesterday.
The ministry also supports the decision of two institutes -- the Taipei-based Shih Hsin University in Taipei and National Hualien Teachers College -- to file an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court to overturn a ruling by Taipei High Administrative Court Thursday that denies local universities the power to expel students for misdemeanors or academic failure, Lu said.
Education minister Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) also on Thursday discounted the Taipei High Administrative Court's ruling which upheld two students' claims that their universities violated their right to an education under the Constitution by forcing them to drop out.
Tzeng said that the notion of expulsion and related practices is basically a part of the sovereignty of all universities and colleges in Taiwan, whether public-run or private, and that this has been the consensus of all authorities concerned.
Lu said all disputes and any confusion derived from the two students' complaints about being expelled from university are expected to be settled by legislators.
Lawmakers are scheduled to discuss and screen a related amendment to the current laws governing higher education during the next legislative session.
People First Party Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安), who is also a member of the Legislative Yuan Education Affairs Committee, said it is one of the academic conditions of local universities that students be expelled for flunking.
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