Students from several high schools plan to protest outside the Ministry of Education in Taipei today in opposition to the ministry’s draft guidelines on how schools should manage student use of mobile devices on campus.
A student representative said that students are most dissatisfied with the ministry’s “top-down” approach and drafting the policy without involving them in the process.
The ministry should withdraw the guidelines and incorporate public input, including hosting debates and hearings, in drafting a new policy, said the student, who asked to remain anonymous.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
Published on a government-run platform on Wednesday to solicit public feedback, the guidelines are intended to help schools manage students’ use of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices on campus.
For elementary and junior-high schools, devices brought by students should be held collectively by schools or by each class, the guidelines say.
At high schools, meetings should be convened with teacher, parent and student representatives to discuss rules for a unified management system, they say.
Although the guidelines say that students should be included in discussions, students are concerned that any decisions made through such a process could still be overturned by school affairs meetings, protest organizers said.
There are comments on the online draft that support and criticize the proposed rules. The public can submit feedback on the platform until June 1.
Today’s protest was being organized by two coalitions of student groups and involves several high schools, including Nangang Senior High School and Dazhi High School in Taipei, as well as Banqiao Senior High School and Zhonghe Senior High School in New Taipei City.
Earlier on Thursday, representatives from non-governmental organizations, including EdYouth, held a news conference calling on the ministry to “uphold campus democracy by including students in decisionmaking.”
Several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers attended the event.
At its core, the mobile device management policy is not merely about controlling device use, but the principles of campus democracy, procedural justice and recognizing students as active participants in their education, DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) said.
Involving students in discussions on such issues can lead to greater self-discipline and fewer conflicts, Wu said, urging the ministry to embrace the value of “listening to students.”
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