The 2006 amendment to the Educational Fundamental Act (教育基本法) banning corporal punishment is not effective and must be revised, the Humanist Education Foundation said.
Foundation executive director Joanna Feng (馮喬蘭) said that as many as 890 teachers have been reprimanded over the past 10 years for using physical punishment on students, despite a 10-year-old amendment to the act prohibiting it.
More than 60 percent of those teachers, or 536, worked in elementary schools, Feng said, adding that the foundation has called for the law to be amended to specifically prohibit jump squats, sustained arches and other endurance tests commonly used by teachers.
Feng said that although the law has improved the situation, the large number of offenses that have been reported since the amendment took effect means that more must be done.
She said that of the offending teachers, 520 were reprimanded, 119 received demerits, 38 received serious demerits, eight had their employment terminated or their contracts were not renewed, and 205 were given verbal or written warnings.
The Ministry of Education has indicated in the Observations on the Notice Governing Educators’ Teaching and Punishing of Students as Defined and Implemented by Schools (學校訂定與實施教師輔導與管教學生辦法注意事項) that while physical abuse of students is prohibited, having students stand still or do other stamina tests as punishment is allowed, which Feng said is the root of the problem, as teachers are interpreting the wording too liberally.
Feng said that examples of abuse on the basis of the ambiguously worded “stamina-testing physical activity” are innumerable, citing a case last month of a vocational-school student in Taoyuan who was forced to do exhausting physical exercises.
The boy was ordered to peel several kilograms of vegetables, do squats and walk numerous laps of a sports field with heavy water bottles hoisted above his head, eventually collapsing from exhaustion and being rushed to the hospital, Feng said.
The foundation said it has been lobbying lawmakers to close the loophole in the law and remove the terms “stand still” and “stamina-testing physical activity,” adding that schools must be required to investigate and report on incidents of physical punishment used against students.
An independent committee of professionals from the fields of education, law and child psychology must be formed to train and evaluate teaching staff to prevent teachers from protecting each other, the foundation said.
National Federation of Teachers’ Unions president Chang Hsu-cheng (張旭政) said there are a number of teachers who believe that the use of physical punishment is necessary, adding that this mentality is incompatible with modern ideas of human rights and the rule of law.
Chang said that it is important to deal with unruly behavior in the classroom, adding that he acknowledges the difficulty of managing a class when three or more students are out of control.
He said that this was the rationale behind allowing teachers some leeway in disciplining students, adding that such measures should be time-limited to avoid harm.
Teachers should be effective educators with less administrative duties so they can focus their time and energy on students, he said.
National Alliance of Parents Organizations director-general Wu Fu-pin (吳福濱) said he supports the complete abolition of physical punishment against students, adding that teachers who use such measures should be dealt with more strictly.
Taiwan Parents’ Educational Alliance preparatory committee chairman Hsieh Kuo-ching (謝國清) said he encourages students and parents to report the use of physical punishment by teachers.
He said that cities and counties should report the number of annual incidents, with those scoring higher receiving rewards and those doing poorly being reprimanded.
The Department of Education’s Yen Ching-hsiang (顏慶祥) said the teaching and guidance a student receives in grade school is supposed to develop their personality and mindset.
Schools must avoid harmful punishments at all cost, the National Sun Yat-sen University researcher said, adding that in some cases students who face physical discipline will learn to use aggression to solve problems.
Deputy Minister of Education Tsai Ching-hwa (蔡清華) said jump squats can lead to death, because stained muscles might fail under excessive stress.
The ministry said it plans to invite researchers to discuss whether physical activity should be fully banned as a disciplinary measure, adding that the ultimate goal is to educate, not to discipline students.
It said that if physical punishment is illegal, it cannot be used at all.
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