The parents of a Tunghai University student are seeking compensation from the school after discovering that their son, a sophomore, skipped classes for three months without them being notified.
The student, surnamed Lin (林), stopped attending classes in October last year, the parents said, adding that they were unaware of the situation until they received his grades in the mail at the end of January.
However, the school on Saturday said that Lin, 20, is an adult and responsible for his own actions.
His school records have been updated to indicate he is deferring studies, it said.
The parents said they did not know about the situation because their son lived in a rented apartment near the school, only occasionally returning home to Taichung’s Beitun District (北屯).
The annual tuition fee for the international business management program that Lin attended is NT$70,000, and it is unusual that the school would not investigate why their son was not attending his classes, the parents said.
“[It seems] they did not even care whether he was still alive,” they said, adding that they feel the school should return the tuition money.
The school said that it had contacted the family last year when Lin’s grades began slipping, telling them to pay attention to the situation.
One of Lin’s teachers spoke directly to him when he started sporadically skipping classes, and Lin told the teacher he was considering taking a hiatus from studies, the school said.
After that, Lin never returned to school, it added.
The school said that there are no rules regarding students who skip classes, but added that it is their practice to notify parents if end-of-term grades are well below standard.
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