More than half of investigations into teachers causing severe injury through corporal punishment or bullying of students resulted only in a verbal warning or a lighter punishment, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said in a special report today.
Corporal punishment has been banned in schools for nearly two decades, although instances of teachers inflicting physical punishment still continue to occur, the commission said.
It called on the Ministry of Education to improve the system to handle unfit teachers, in alignment with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Amendments to the Teachers’ Act (教師法) implemented in 2020 included more clearly defined rules on the determination of “unfit” teachers, outlining that the most extreme cases of misconduct would result in dismissal and denial of future teaching positions.
Prior to those amendments, only 40 percent of cases involving corporal punishment triggered an investigation, the commission said.
After the amendments, this figure rose to 65 percent, it added.
Following another legal amendment last year, nearly 80 percent of cases resulted in an investigation in the past academic year, it said.
Despite investigations becoming more common, 12.27 percent of cases resulted in no punishment or only a verbal warning, or 101 out of 823 cases, it added.
Among the cases in which teachers were found to contravene Article 14-1-10 of the Teachers’ Act for inflicting “corporal punishment on or bullying one or more students, causing severe physical or mental injury,” more than half resulted in a reprimand or lighter penalties, it said.
In all 823 confirmed cases, 69 percent, or 568 cases, resulted in a reprimand, verbal warning or no punishment at all, it added.
Low reporting rates to social welfare agencies reflect insufficient awareness of children’s rights among educators and lack of training for identifying violent behaviors, Control Yuan member Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said.
It also highlights confusion among educators as to whether the cases should be reported through campus safety channels or to social welfare agencies, she added.
Among cases that were not established, 65 percent were deemed to involve minor infractions, while 35 percent cited insufficient evidence or failure to meet the legal threshold, she said.
Investigations tend to rely on narrow legal definitions of misconduct and fail to prioritize the best interests of the child, she said.
Yeh recommended amendments to the Teachers’ Act and the Educational Fundamental Act (教育基本法) to align with the CRC, plus a revision of dismissal regulations to reduce implementation difficulties and excessive interpretation.
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