The Ministry of Education presented on Wednesday a draft definition of corporal punishment that promp-ted a heated debate.
The ministry drew up the definition after the passage last month of an amendment to the Basic Education Act (
The amendment assigned the ministry the task of defining coporal punishment.
In its draft definition, the ministry said that "any punishment executed that causes physical pain or physical discomfort to students" constituted corporal punishment.
"We encourage teachers to listen to, to communicate with and to understand students," said Jenny Ko (
She argued that the way to deal with misbehavior in the classroom was to find a solution that addressed the cause.
In situations where punishment is necessary, "corporal punishment isn't everything," she said.
Instead, Ko suggested schools that schools take other measures, such as assigning students to perform community service.
Joanna Feng (
"Zero corporal punishment is already in the law. We certainly expect to be shown a clear direction," she said, adding that the draft definition was in accordance with international standards and was "close to what we expected."
Teachers, on the other hand, were skeptical about the definition.
Yang Hsiu-pi (楊秀碧), vice president of the National Teachers' Association (NTA), said she believed that banning corporal punishment would be difficult to realize.
"Why would students listen if punishments caused no discomfort?" she asked.
Yang said that understaffing meant that the counseling proposed by the ministry was unfeasible.
"The definition is really blurry. We don't know what to do," a junior high school teacher surnamed Huang said. "I'd like to see a set of clear-defined guidelines or a third-party mechanism at school to make judgments and execute punishments."
In response to the skepticism, Emily Hsiau (
The ministry is expected to reach a consensus with the NTA by June, Ko said.
Once the consensus is reached, guidelines will be published and distributed to schools, she added.
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