College administrators should not exclude themselves from abiding by the laws followed by the rest of society and have no right to deprive students of their right to receive an education, human rights campaigners said yesterday.
They said punishments on a college campuses should be based on national law. Bylaws or administrative instructions, they maintain, are not adequate to penalize college students.
The `real' issue
"The focus of the recent debate surrounding whether students should be expelled from school when they fail to meet minimum scholastic requirements was blurred, as most discussions failed to pinpoint the real issue," said Lin Feng-jeng (
"The core of the controversy is not whether these students should be expelled. I absolutely concur that schools have every right to set up guidelines ensuring the quality of students. But what needs to be thought over is by what legal regulations are these students expelled?"
Lin's comments were made in response to heated discussions sparked last week following a ruling handed down by the Administrative High Court, which determined that colleges did not have the authority to oust students for weak academic performance.
The ruling was made in response to an appeal filed by a former student of Shih Hsin University (
In Taiwan, most colleges and universities have rules stating that students will be expelled if they fail half of their courses in a single semester. Some colleges oust students who fail two-thirds of their courses. But disputes over punishments meted out are endless due to the uneven enforcement of -- and variations in -- present regulations.
With the aim of avoiding conflict, the Ministry of Education granted universities the right to stipulate academic punishments three years ago. And according to the by-laws -- rules by which schools implement legislation -- of the University Law (
Currently, more than 80 percent of universities dismiss students if they fail more than half of their classes.
Those who opposed last week's judicial decision, mostly college administrators and officials in the education ministry, argued that the judicial ruling usurped the autonomy of universities.
But those who agree with the ruling say that the internal guidelines of colleges and universities incorrectly deprive students of their right to an education. It is up to the legislature to decide under what circumstances a student can be ousted.
Bylaws not laws
"The bylaws [of the University Law] are not tantamount to law. Any restrictions should be regulated under the law, not by administrative decrees," Lin said. "To legalize the punishment, universities have to first push for the legislation."
Lin also pointed out many other internal rules worked out by schools are in need of repair, such as the regulations governing student organizations and punishments designed to curb student wrongdoing.
"This incident is just the tip of the iceberg. Many rules lack legal grounding, or are in violation of students' human rights. Though schools have established avenues for students to appeal, most of their operations and decision-making procedures failed to guarantee due legal process. Students rights are infringed upon, then they are forced to resort to the legal system outside of the school," said Lin.
"If the legal system within the educational system is not improved, and universities continue to fail to uphold the rights of students or teachers, it is unavoidable that cases of this sort will occur again and again."
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)