The Control Yuan yesterday censured the Taipei City Education Department for poor supervision of Taipei Wego Private Senior High School, which allegedly used corporal punishment to enforce an overly restrictive dress code.
The school implemented collective punishment and corporal punishment for dress code contraventions, but the department did not require the school to investigate or address complaints when they were received, Control Yuan members Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) and Lai Ting-ming (賴鼎銘) said in a statement based on their investigation.
The department received 11 petitions regarding improper enforcement of the school’s dress code from August 2020, when the Ministry of Education introduced new dress code policies, until March this year, the investigation showed.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
The petitions regarded the school imposing restrictions on students’ hairstyles, its punishment of students for wearing extra layers of clothes on cold days and for not having a committee that could arbitrate dress code disputes, it showed.
After review of the school’s documentation, the department determined that the dress codes contravened ministry regulations, it said.
However, the department only sent a letter to the school asking it to review and revise its dress codes, and to announce the new policies on its Web site within one month, none of which the school did, it said.
Upon receiving reports of alleged corporal punishment at the school, the department should have required the school to investigate the allegations within five days, which did not happen, Yeh and Lai said.
Teachers also reportedly punished students for dress code contraventions by forcing them to perform campus services, also not within ministry regulation, they said.
Complaints continued to be filed with the department, with responses to the petitioners only relaying the school’s position and the department’s actions, without an investigation taking place, they said.
The department neglected its duty to supervise the school, and failed to protect students’ rights to education and expression, they said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
MEDICAL: The bills would also upgrade the status of the Ethical Guidelines Governing the Research of Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cell Research to law The Executive Yuan yesterday approved two bills to govern regenerative medicine that aim to boost development of the field. Taiwan would reach an important milestone in regenerative medicine development with passage of the regenerative medicine act and the regenerative medicine preparations ordinance, which would allow studies to proceed and treatments to be developed, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Regenerative treatments have been used for several conditions, including cancer — by regenerating blood cells — and restoring joint function in soft tissue, Wang said. The draft legislation requires regenerative treatments
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese