A dispute at a Kaohsiung County school over whether it's appropriate for teachers to wear shorts and sandals has evolved into a shouting match that includes accusations of incompetence among the school's administration.
At issue is whether teachers at Zi Guan Middle School (梓官國中) should be allowed to wear shorts and sandals in the classroom.
The school's principal Huang Che-yuan (黃哲元) thinks the attire is inappropriate.
But teachers say their boss is raising the dress code issue to divert attention away from allegations of his incompetence.
Huang, in turn, says it's the teachers that are attempting to obfuscate the fact that they had broken school rules by wearing inappropriate attire to class.
The principal added that dressing too casually might set a bad example for students.
"I have never said that teachers can't wear shorts," Huang said. "But it's extremely disgraceful if teachers wear shorts that would show their underwear whenever they bend down."
The principal also claimed that parents have complained about teachers wearing shorts, sandals and sleeveless shirts to class.
But teachers say Huang is calling attention to the dress code issue because they have on several occasions questioned his ability to perform his job.
According to Liu Ya-ping (劉亞平), chairman of Kaohsiung County Teachers' Association, teachers Wu Hsun-yu (吳訓裕) and Wu Feng-chuan (吳豐全) have had several run-ins with Huang.
One sore point in particular was the principal's hiring of a teacher that had been accused of having a sexual relationship with a student.
"Huang repeatedly ignored our complaints until this January, when the teacher offered to quit due to parents' strong protests," Wu Hsun-yu told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Wu had demanded that the principal be punished for hiring the teacher, but governmental organizations were unwilling to do so.
Huang said that the hiring of the accused teacher had followed procedures and that the alleged misconduct took place at another school.
He also said that the teacher had performed well during his time at Zi Guan.
The fuss over school attire broke out on Friday after teachers protested a suggestion by Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) that two teachers be punished for wearing shorts in class.
Yu had been visiting the school that day when he noticed the teachers wearing shorts.
On Monday, roughly 20 teachers wore shorts and sandals to school in support of Wu.
Upset by the controversy, a handful of parents say they have launched a signature drive in a bid oust teachers they say not are qualified to serve in their jobs.
But Liu, the teachers' representative, said teachers cannot be fired based on the outcome of a signature drive.
The County Commissioner, Yu, whose remarks led to the brouhaha over teachers' attire in the first place, called upon education authorities to step in and settle the matter "in a rational fashion," otherwise "he would have to do it himself."
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique