Representatives from several parent groups yesterday demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Education in Taipei against the Executive Yuan’s plan to replace military instructors on high school, college and university campuses with security guards.
The military instructors are soldiers assigned by the Ministry of National Defense to high schools, colleges and universities to teach basic military training courses and protect students.
The protesters panned what they said is an “adamant” attitude taken by the Executive Yuan over a plan announced in 2013 to gradually eliminate military instructor posts by closing job vacancies.
Photo: CNA
Security guards cannot be expected to stay on campuses after classes end and handle threats posed to students the way military instructors can, so they are unsuited for the job of protecting students, the protesters said.
National Association of Students’ Parents chairman Chen Tieh-hu (陳鐵虎) said that as security guards would have to report any emergency to the police and then wait for police officers to arrive to deal with the situation, students could be exposed to serious dangers by the delay in response.
Could security guards be as efficient as a military instructor who recently rescued a student during an alleged abduction attempt by a group of gangsters, Chen asked, citing a news report about the incident.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators in favor of removing military instructors from campuses should listen to parents and teachers, the majority of whom are against such a move, he said.
Hsieh Chin-cheng (謝金城), the secretary-gneral of the Secondary and Elementary School Principals Association, said there are concerns about whether the government can introduce a reasonable vetting and training process for security guards.
Parents would only feel assured about their children’s safety if security guards undergo proper training so that that they can display the same level of competence and efficiency as military instructors, Hsieh said.
For example, if a student living away from home is hit by a car late at night, security guards should be required to promptly address the situation the way military instructors have done in the past, he said.
The government should conduct a trial run of the replacement policy at select schools before ordering the full implementation of the scheme, he said.
Military instructors used to be criticized as authoritarian symbols, but that has changed because many younger instructors do not have any political affiliations, he said.
Ministry of Education official Liu Chia-chen (劉家楨) said the measures and regulations about removing military instructors from school campuses are still being drafted, and that the ministry would take note of the parents’ opinions.
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