The Children’s Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) said yesterday that children are being worked too hard because up to 74 percent of them still go to cram school after a full day at school.
“We’re very concerned after we discovered in a recent survey that a lot of children in the country have to go to cram school or childcare centers — which is often just another name for cram school — after attending regular school during the day,” CWLF executive director Alicia Wang (王育敏) told a news conference yesterday. “This is not only bad for children’s health, but the facilities in many cram schools or childcare centers may jeopardize their safety as well.”
Wang citing the results of a survey conducted by the foundation in June with 954 valid samples randomly collected from elementary students across the country.
Besides showing that 74 percent of the children go to cram schools after school, survey results also showed that 58 percent of those children go to cram schools every day Monday through Friday.
While regular school classes for third and fourth graders begin at about 8am, the survey showed that 65 percent of the students stay at cram schools until 8pm and 11 percent stay until after 9pm before they can go home.
“It’s horrible that these kids have to stay away from home taking classes for more than 12 hours a day,” Wang said. “Do they really get enough rest and spend time with their families?”
Wang also voiced concern over the quality of cram schools, and the possible dangers they pose to the students’ safety and health.
Last week, instructors at a Tainan cram school — which was actually registered as a business consulting firm — were accused of asking students to eat fire and glass to train them to overcome fear.
Another fourth grader surnamed Chung (鍾) had to undergo surgery for gastric perforation because he went to two cram schools each day after school and never had dinner at a regular time.
The CWLF investigation also found that many cram schools are located in basements or that minibuses and vans used as “school buses” by cram schools were too crowded.
“Growing up like this is not good for the children’s physical or mental health,” Wang said. “If parents have to send their children somewhere after school, they should find a certified childcare center via official sources, and the government should come up with stricter regulations over cram schools and childcare centers.”
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
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
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
RSS