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Teachers protest against spy cameras

Faculty members at Taipei Municipal Xinglong Elementary School recently accused management of monitoring their every move by installing 60 "spy" cameras across the campus, saying this constituted an invasion of privacy and a violation of human rights.

Cameras have been installed at school entrances, main corridors, stairways, restroom doorways, teaching material areas and public spaces, but not in classrooms.

Principal Cheng Chiu-kue (鄭秋貴) said that there were only 32 cameras originally, but in order to strengthen campus security, the school purchased another 28 cameras last year with a grant of NT$400,000 from Taipei City's Department of Education.

Cheng said that although she had security monitors in her office, she would never spy on teachers, adding that no teacher had raised the issue with her.

She said that a thief was caught on camera when he tried to steal a teacher's purse three years ago, proving that the cameras were quite useful.

Meanwhile, department chief secretary Tang Te-chih (唐德智) said that a campus safety monitoring policy using security cameras was launched two years ago to promote school safety. He said that all 229 public schools in the city had installed such cameras.

Humanistic Education Foundation executive director Joanna Feng (馮喬蘭) said that while security cameras might be necessary, the high number of cameras was likely to create tension between the faculty and principal.
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