The Ministry of Education (MOE) is cracking down on teachers nationwide who fail to report incidents of abuse involving students on and off campuses.
Ko Hui-chen (柯慧貞), director of the ministry's Student Affairs Committee, said that it would refer to the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) teachers who fail to report cases of student abuse within 24 hours.
Neglectful teachers could then be punished according to the Children and Juveniles Welfare Law (兒童及少年福利法), fined NT$6,000 to NT$30,000, and/or subjected to administrative punishment, she added.
According to Ko, the Children and Juveniles Welfare Law has been on the books for years, but is rarely enforced. In 2004, for example, the law was applied to only one case.
Ko said that the MOE is attempting to get more mileage out of the law in response to MOI officials' criticism that too few cases of student abuse are receiving the necessary attention from teachers nationwide.
She referred to such criticism as a "misunderstanding," saying that as much as 20 percent of reported school-related abuse is reported annually by the education ministry.
Ko claimed that if the MOI were to implement already existing legislation like its Children and Juveniles Welfare Law, that would dispel the notion that teachers were too passive in reporting cases of student abuse.
However, according to a recent education ministry poll of 390 elementary and middle school teachers and 392 students nationwide, more than 34 percent of respondents were unaware that school-related abuse cases must be reported within 24 hours of becoming aware of such cases.
Chang Tzu-fang (
"Some teachers just feel that their students are behaving strangely -- they have no way of knowing for sure that it stems from abuse. Under such circumstances, would teachers be punished? What if the 24-hour limit passes -- will the teachers be fined? How will that be determined?" Chang said.
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