A survey of elementary and junior high school students around the nation showed a slow but steady trend toward the abolition of corporal punishment in Taiwan's schools, an education organization said yesterday.
Chu Tai-hsiang (朱台翔), chairwoman of the Humanistic Education Foundation, made the remarks at a press conference that was held to publicize the results of a survey held on corporal punishment.
During April and last month, the foundation surveyed 2,779 elementary and junior high school students from around the nation.
The survey covered various aspects of corporal punishment, such as the personal experiences of students and their observations.
visible decline
"More than 52.8 percent of students interviewed this year said they've received some form of corporal punishment, a visible decline from the 2005 number," Chu said.
The foundation conducted a similar survey in that year, in which 64 percent of respondents said they were victims of corporal punishment, Chu said.
This year's survey was performed after a law to ban corporal punishment was passed last year, and the statistics revealed an interesting trend, Chu said.
comparing results
"Comparing the results, we could see a significant decrease in number of cases of a teacher beating a student, however, there's also a significant increase in number of cases of other forms of punishment," Lin Sieh-hwa (林世華), a professor of educational psychology at the National Taiwan Normal University, told the press conference.
According to the results of the survey, student beatings have dropped from 51 percent in 2005 to 27.3 percent this year; while the occurence of the use of fazhan (
Fazhan is a punishment in which the teacher orders a student to stand for a certain period of time.
"This shows that teachers are seeking different ways to keep students disciplined," Lin said.
He interpreted the phenomenon as a positive sign.
"However, as long as the mentality of teachers remains the same, we will have a long way to go," he said.
To reach the goal of zero corporal punishment, participants believed that teachers would need more professional training.
"Many teachers that I've talked to wanted to change after the law was passed, but they don't know how," said Cheng Tung-liao (鄭同僚), a professor of education at National Chengchi University.
opportunity
"Maybe this is an opportunity for teachers to engage in a discussion ? to seek new teaching methods," he said.
Participants suggested the government should also be involved in the process.
"Besides legislation banning corporal punishment, government agencies should also make an effort to inform teachers what can or cannot be done," said Huang Shu-tien (黃旭田), a lawyer.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
RSS