The rise in the number of families in which both parents work full time and a drop in birth rates mean elementary schools do not have enough volunteers to direct traffic outside schools.
According to the Tianmu School District Safety Alliance in Taipei, some volunteers must direct traffic eight to 10 times per week. Alliance member Hsueh Hsiu-chun (薛秀群) said that in the past, volunteers only had to help out two to three times per week, but now the average is five times per week, adding that some volunteers have to do as many as eight to 10 shifts.
Hsueh said that majority of these volunteers are parents whose children attend the school, and that the number of people offering their service has dwindled along with the decline in birth rates and the increase in the proportion of families in which both parents work.
Yu Nong Elementary School, Taipei Municipal Tianmu Elementary School, Sanyu Elementary School and Lanya Elementary School are especially hard hit by the decrease in traffic-directing volunteers, Hsueh said.
The alliance has asked borough offices, nearby businesses and the elderly to volunteer to help, Hsueh said.
Yu Nong Elementary School educational affairs department head Cheng ming-yi (鄭銘毅), said the supply of volunteers has decreased by about 10 to 20 percent over the past decade.
The school needs at least two parents from each class to take turns directing traffic to ensure the safety of schoolchildren in the vicinity of the school, Cheng said, adding that most volunteers are recruited by the head representative for parents from each class.
The representatives usually have to do the job if volunteers cannot be found, Cheng said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Wu Ssu-yao (吳思瑤) said that the job of overseeing the safety of school children on roads near schools was originally the responsibility of teachers. However, as teachers are now overloaded with additional work, parents have had to step in and fill the gap.
It is common for schools to be short of volunteers, Wu said.
Wu said the city government’s Bureau of Education should offer welfare subsidies and liability insurance to increase the incentives for volunteers, adding that the bureau could also subsidize teachers so they would be more willing to take on the job.
The bureau’s elementary school education division head Hsieh Li-hua (謝麗華) said there are about 7,000 volunteers directing traffic near elementary schools in Taipei, adding that the bureau would hold events and increase the amount of insurance available to try and convince more people to volunteer.
Head of the bureau’s mid-level education division Tan Yi-ching (譚以敬) said that most junior-high students were sufficiently aware of their surroundings to cross streets safely, adding however that if schools are really having difficulties, the bureau is willing to offer assistance on a school-by-school basis.
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