An insightful article (“Taiwan short of over 1,000 substitute teachers with school year starting soon,” Aug. 25, page 1) highlights a problem that has been long overlooked. This issue runs much deeper and can be divided into hard and soft factors.
The remuneration for substitute teachers is so low that even a part-time job at a 7-Eleven can be more attractive. A substitute teacher at a high school earns about NT$550 and NT$620 for a 50-minute class. They teach a class of about 20 to 29 students. Lesson preparation, and grading of homework and exams are not covered.
Teachers rarely have more than four consecutive hours of teaching due to organizational constraints at schools. Thus, for two hours of teaching, a substitute teacher earns about NT$1,100 to NT$1,240, with perhaps 30 minutes of travel time and 30 minutes for preparation and follow-up. During exam periods, additional unpaid grading time is required.
Specialized cram schools with good reputations pay between NT$600 and NT$1,200 for small classes. Although these schools cater primarily to students’ needs, they can more easily organize classes due to their smaller size.
The disparity is even more pronounced at universities, although the remuneration is somewhat higher. Part-time instructors must first input their lesson plans into the university’s system for free, which is time-consuming and a potential opportunity for colleagues to steal ideas.
Depending on the university’s rating, students in lectures might be less motivated. More demanding part-time instructors who work in the private sector might face negative evaluations if they enforce punctuality and homework completion. The preferred university instructor, from the students’ perspective, is often one who is more friendly and accommodating.
At universities, more extensive and challenging assignments must also be graded for free. Additionally, many universities are on the outskirts, adding to travel time. If a part-timer drives, universities are often not hesitant to charge parking fees — unless time-consuming paperwork is filled out.
From a financial perspective, teaching at schools and universities is unprofitable for part-timers.
The soft factors should not be underestimated. Public officials are not necessarily socially adept. Until about two years ago, there were enough teachers, especially at universities. Consequently, part-timers were somewhat looked down on.
As a part-time lecturer at a university, I had established myself and taught several courses. Everything was going well until a new dean arrived and brought his own team. Almost all of my courses were canceled without notice; I only learned about it from students. A bit naively, one student asked me why I was in trouble.
The new dean also immediately revoked my access to the university network and I never received a faculty ID. To log into the system, I had to ask students for their access credentials.
A high school persuaded me to take over a four-week teaching block. At 11pm on the evening before the course started, I was informed that the first classes had been canceled. Again, this was short notice with no apology.
Although it has no financial importance, it was inconvenient, as I had already rescheduled other appointments. The frustration was considerable.
Many part-time teachers experience similar frustrations. As a result, they have established themselves professionally elsewhere.
Financially, teaching is unprofitable, and sympathy for the school system and its representatives alone is unlikely to lead to success in employment. Some universities, often language departments, are now hiring freshly graduated students as teachers due to the shortage of experienced substitutes.
The education system is missing out on the practical experience that part-timers bring from outside the academic bubble, leading to further quality loss, particularly at universities.
Claudius Petzold works at a law firm in Taipei and is a subcontractor for several travel companies. He previously taught law and German as an assistant professor at Taiwanese universities.
In an article published in Newsweek on Monday last week, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged China to retake territories it lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. “If it is really for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t China take back Russia?” Lai asked, referring to territories lost in 1858 and 1860. The territories once made up the two flanks of northern Manchuria. Once ceded to Russia, they became part of the Russian far east. Claims since then have been made that China and Russia settled the disputes in the 1990s through the 2000s and that “China
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Trips to the Kenting Peninsula in Pingtung County have dredged up a lot of public debate and furor, with many complaints about how expensive and unreasonable lodging is. Some people even call it a tourist “butchering ground.” Many local business owners stake claims to beach areas by setting up parasols and driving away people who do not rent them. The managing authority for the area — Kenting National Park — has long ignored the issue. Ultimately, this has affected the willingness of domestic travelers to go there, causing tourist numbers to plummet. In 2008, Taiwan opened the door to Chinese tourists and in
On Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) met with a delegation from the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University in California, to discuss strengthening US-Taiwan relations and enhancing peace and stability in the region. The delegation was led by James Ellis Jr, co-chair of the institution’s Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region project and former commander of the US Strategic Command. It also included former Australian minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, influential US academics and other former policymakers. Think tank diplomacy is an important component of Taiwan’s efforts to maintain high-level dialogue with other nations with which it does
RSS