Twenty current and former employees at two Tainan elementary schools have been reprimanded for failing to report the alleged sexual misconduct of a coworker for more than two decades, authorities said last week.
The alleged sexual misconduct by Chang Po-sheng (張博勝), a recipient of an “outstanding teacher award,” began in 2000, but did not come to light until 2019, and last year he was indicted over a sexual harassment case dating back to 2017, according to media reports and Tainan District Court records.
Court records show that 31 students have been identified as alleged victims of Chang.
After conducting an investigation, the Tainan Bureau of Education on Tuesday said that 17 people still employed as educators, including a school principal and homeroom teachers, were aware of Chang’s misconduct, but failed to notify authorities in a timely manner and have been punished.
Chang, 51, was dismissed from his post in May last year and banned from being employed at any educational institution nationwide, the bureau said.
The outstanding teacher recognition Chang received has been revoked and he must return his prize money and certificate, it added.
One school principal received a demerit and has been informed that he would be transferred, the bureau said, adding that three retired teachers have also been asked to return their year-end bonuses and performance review bonuses paid during the years they failed to report Chang’s misconduct.
Chang allegedly committed 32 incidences of sexual assault or harassment, according to the outcome of a Control Yuan investigation.
Chang was also involved in nine cases where he allegedly gave inappropriate physical punishments to 29 students, in addition to other misconduct, the Control Yuan said.
To prevent similar incidents, the bureau said it has teamed up with schools in the city to institutionalize sexual misconduct investigation and disciplinary proceedings, while regulations, including one requiring that students never be left alone in a classroom with a teacher, have also been put in place.
In October last year, the Tainan District Court sentenced Chang to four years and 10 months in prison for misconduct spanning 20 years, which involved kissing female students and touching their private parts.
Chang is appealing the decision to the High Court.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS