Corporal punishment is still imposed in most elementary and junior-high schools around the nation, an executive of the Humanistic Education Foundation in Taipei said on Tuesday, citing the results of a survey.
In the poll conducted by the foundation in September and last month, only 4.65 percent of junior-high school students said they had never seen corporal punishment meted out by teachers at their schools, foundation executive director Joanna Feng (馮喬蘭) said.
In elementary schools, the figure was 10.92 percent, she added.
The survey defined corporal punishment as spanking, making students stand still for a certain period of time, making students maintain a certain position for a period of time and having students perform certain actions.
The poll indicates that corporal punishment is used as a way of disciplining students in about 90 percent of elementary and junior-high schools in Taiwan, Feng said.
Although fewer and fewer teachers are resorting to floggings, punishments in schools often include asking students to stand still, squat with their hands raised and run laps around the playground, she said.
Apart from physical punishment, “violent language, which can be far more horrifying than physical violence,” is often used, said Feng, an advocate of the abolition of corporal punishment in schools.
Unfortunately, insulting words like “stupid, idiot, scum and loser,” which attack a person’s character, are still being used by teachers in classrooms, she said.
The survey also showed that about 40 percent of students in junior-high schools and 70 percent in elementary schools have been deprived of a break between classes as a form of discipline, Feng said.
A short break of about 10 minutes between classes is a basic right of students, who need time to relax and go to the bathroom, she said.
“This right should not be arbitrarily removed,” she said.
The foundation urged the Ministry of Education to ensure that its policy of banning corporal punishment in schools is carried out and to discipline teachers who do not comply.
In response, Yang Chih-chung (楊志忠), head of the ministry’s Student Affairs Committee, said teachers who use corporal punishment in schools could be prosecuted or given a demerit.
A total of 1,112 elementary-school students and 1,112 junior-high school students in 22 counties and cities in Taiwan were interviewed in the survey. It had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3 percentage points, according to the foundation, which is dedicated to the development of human-centered education in Taiwan.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
RSS