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Schools still ignore law on corporal punishment: poll

Although corporal punishment has been banned in schools and regulations on the length of students’ hair were lifted by the Ministry of Education (MOE) years ago, such things are still common in schools across the country, a survey released by the Humane Education Foundation (HEF) suggested yesterday.

A revision of the Education Basic Law (教育基本法) adopted in 2005 banned all forms of corporal punishment in schools, while an announcement made by the ministry that same year abolished regulations on the length and style of students’ hair out of respect for student rights.

“However, to our disappointment, 31.33 percent of junior high school students across the country said that they have received corporal punishment [in the last semester],” HEF executive director Joanna Feng (馮喬蘭) told a news conference.

The actual percentage of students having received corporal punishment may be higher since “during the survey, some students told us that they didn’t receive such punishment because their teachers told them that being hit on the palm doesn’t count as corporal punishment,” Feng said.

The survey included 1,433 students in 229 junior high schools scattered cross 22 counties and cities on Taiwan proper.

On hair regulations, 70.13 percent of respondents said their schools still dictate hair style and length and examine their hair styles on a regular basis.

A video clip shot in May was played during the news conference.

The clip showed a school administrator ordering a group of students to squat jump before a crowd as the school principal talked on stage because they had chatted while the principal was talking.

“The school administrator was there, the principal was there, and the teachers were there while the students were asked to do the jumps. Teachers are essentially breaking the law in front of their students every day,” Feng said.

Voice recordings of how students were treated when they violated the hair regulations was also played during the press conference.

“If you girls want to keep your hair long, then you should tie it up,” a school administer told a student. “If you can’t even do that, I don’t know what you have in your brain!”

Lin Wan-yi (林萬億), a social work professor at National Taiwan University, said that “teachers often have the idea of managing [students] rather than educating.”

Fort Liao (廖福特), an associate research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Law, said the teachers should better understand the concept of human rights — even for students.

“I suggest that the MOE include respect for human rights — rather than just academic achievements — as part of a teacher’s or school’s evaluation,” he said.
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