Schools from hell
I am writing further to the article “Schools still ignore law on corporal punishment: poll,” (July 7, page 2).
That is only half the truth. If a Taiwanese student is really unlucky, he has to study at a private school. He has to get up at 6:30am to arrive at school at 7:30am to study until 8:30pm. Of course, he is “lazy” (he has only been in school for 12 to 14 hours after all) therefore he has to do some homework, sometimes two to three hours’ worth per day.
In his third year, school hours will be extended until 10pm — Monday to Saturday— and for the last three months before graduation he will not have a single day off. Please compare these hours with the regulations on working hours in the Labor Law (勞動基準法)!
During his school years the student will receive a lot of corporal punishment — if he is not so good, nearly every day. Normally, the student will be punished in front of his (50 or so) classmates and after the punishment he has to say: “Thank you teacher.”
There are a lot reasons for punishment, for instance, if the student ranks fifth in a mid-term test and later only comes sixth, he will be punished.
If he is too tired and sleeps — punishment.
Sometimes the principal or the vice principal will personally administer the corporal punishment. Have they nothing better to do?
One day a student told me his teacher hit him on the joints of his hand. As a former boxer and prosecutor I know: don’t hit joints or bones — there is a high risk of injury.
These schools not only check the length of their students’ hair, they check their school bags for mobile phones and other “improper things.” So the human rights status of students in Taiwan is worse than in Cuba or China.
For what? They study China’s culture, geography and history but not so much about IT and computers. I can’t believe that this system is good.
I know some students with good test results in English. I can show them, for example, kitchen equipment and they can translate everything into English — but I would not attempt to have a conversation with them.
Every foreigner in Taiwan will tell you the same thing about Taiwanese people — they are really smart, but they can’t use English as a tool and they are very reluctant to make decisions by themselves.
The strangest thing is that Taiwanese parents really like this type of schooling, and are happy to sign an agreement that they won’t sue the school in the event of their children being punished.
Some Taiwanese say that’s Chinese culture. Maybe, but 100 years ago, China and Taiwan were semi-colonies and underdeveloped. Nobody can say that was a product of Chinese culture too.
CLAUDIUS PETZOLD
Pingjhen, Taoyuan County
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