Longer teaching contracts for remote schools sought

BETTER FOR STUDENTS:Reducing teacher turnover at schools on outlying islands and in mountain villages could improve the quality of teaching at those schools

By Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

A draft bill that would require new teachers at public elementary and secondary schools in remote areas to work at the schools for six years before they can request a transfer was announced by the Ministry of Education yesterday.

Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) said the bill covers schools on outlying islands, in Aboriginal villages in mountainous areas and in areas at altitudes of 1,000m or above.

The ministry attaches a high level of importance to education in these areas, so the aim of the new rule is to reduce teacher turnover, which has hurt students’ learning, Lin said.

The draft bill also suggested that in schools with fewer than 50 students, the student-to-teacher ratio must not be lower than five-to-one, and that the school must have a minimum of three teachers.

If the bill is passed in this legislative session, it will take effect in September next year, Lin said.

National Federation of Teachers’ Unions president Chang Hsu-cheng (張旭政) said that six years is “quite a long time.”

However, given that the number of teachers far outweighs demand, if a school in a remote area is hiring a full-time teacher, many young and inexperienced teachers would likely apply, Chang said.

He said he does not think the proposal would discourage young teachers from teaching at remote schools.

In related news, the federation called on the ministry to abolish the Evaluation of Teachers’ Professional Development.

Although the evaluations are not mandatory, some schools arbitrarily evaluate their teachers, which seriously undermines the teachers’ self-determination and interferes with their teaching styles, Chang said.

The evaluation should be replaced by lessons that allow teachers to learn new techniques, he said, adding that such lessons have become increasingly popular in recent years and have produced promising results.

Ministry official Chang Ming-wen (張明文) said the evaluation system, introduced in 2006, would be overhauled and it would be transformed in August next year into a system that supports the development of teachers’ professional skills.

However, the valuable qualities of the former evaluation system would be retained, Chang Ming-wen said.

Universities mull dorm issues

SPACE PROBLEM:Providence University president Tang Chuan-yi said universities are content with dormitories and not worrying whether they have enough room

By Wu Po-hsuan, Rachel Lin and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer

Insufficient dorm space is infringing on students’ right to education, academics said, adding that the situation is hampering the nation’s appeal to foreign students.

The Ministry of Education reiterated that it would not directly subsidize universities’ efforts to build new dorms, but added that universities could apply for central government subsidies to pay off interest on loans for construction purposes.

According to ministry statistics, 355,277 students applied for dormitory space last year, but universities and junior colleges had room for just 308,300, meaning 46,977 applicants had to find other accommodation.

Of those applying for dorms, only 281,743 students moved in, while 292,406 students rented rooms off campus, showing that most students lived off-campus, the ministry said.

The figures did not include rooms in build-operate-transfer (BOT) dormitories, the ministry said.

Providence University president Tang Chuan-yi (唐傳義) said he saw dormitory education as a necessity for university life.

New students are able to bond with the school, the dorms and their surroundings if they are able to stay in dorms, where they will be guided by staff and more senior students, he said.

Many foreign universities guarantee dormitories for students and corporations are financing construction of additional facilities, Tang said, adding that it was sad Taiwan’s universities were content with having dormitories and not caring whether they had enough.

Such a situation means that not only are students unable to get a dormitory space, it also diminishes the appeal of Taiwanese universities among foreign students considering a degree in Taiwan, Tang said.

National Taiwan University (NTU) Department of Student Affairs director Chen Tsung-fu (陳聰富) said the university faces the same problem, adding that it was only able to provide dorms for students from out of town.

NTU plans to overcome this difficulty in the long term by seeking BOT dormitory projects with construction companies, Chen said.

The university is expected to build another dormitory on campus at the intersection of Keelung and Xinhai roads, Chen said, adding that due to high property prices in Taipei, it would be greatly appreciated if the government had spare land it could use.

Department of Higher Education Director Nicole Lee (李彥儀) said private universities are faced with having to close down due to the declining birth rate.

The ministry is obliged to help universities transition as smoothly as possible, but should universities be forced to close, using that land for dormitories, provided the locations are suitable, is a distinct possibility, Lee said.

If there are unused classrooms in junior-high or elementary schools, they could also be used as dormitories, Lee said.

Also, there was a suggestion at a higher-education forum in August that urban universities could collaborate with nearby schools to build dorms, Lee said.

Fu Jen students launch petition to remove dean/TV comments to be reviewed

Fu Jen students launch petition to remove dean

By Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

The Fu Jen Catholic University Students’ Association yesterday launched an online petition seeking the removal of College of Social Sciences dean Hsia Lin-ching (夏林清) over her handling of sexual assault allegations made by a psychology student against another student.

The association said that article 14 of the Teachers’ Act (教師法) stipulates that teachers should be fired if they have “bullied a student, caused trauma” or were “negligent in teaching, unfit for their jobs or in serious breach of their teaching contracts.”

Hsia’s actions have violated academic ethics and the principles laid down in the Ex Corde Ecclesiade by Pope John Paul II, which governs the Catholic university’s recruitment of its teaching staff.

As the procedure governing a teacher’s dismissals must be initiated by the psychology department’s teachers’ evaluation committee, whose decisions are reviewed by its counterparts at the College of Social Sciences and the university, the association demanded that the department hold a committee meeting no later than Oct. 15 to allow time for the college to review the petition to oust Hsia ahead of a university-level teachers’ evaluation committee meeting scheduled for Dec. 15.

Hsia was suspended by the university last week over administrative neutrality concerns regarding an ongoing investigation into the assault case.

Association chairman Tao Han (陶漢) said that Hsia had inflicted a “second injury” on the rape victim, a psychology major surnamed Wu (巫).

Tao questioned the veracity of insinuations Hsia made about Wu and a classmate, surnamed Wang (王) — the alleged rapist — having had sexual intercourse under the influence of “carnal desires” and alcohol available at an event in June last year.

Hsia has taken to Facebook several times after Wu last week published an apology to Hsia and the department on Facebook over the “malice and cruelty” society had directed at Hsia and the department.

Although Hsia praised Wu’s move, saying it was a voluntary act, netizens said that Wu could have been pressured to apologize.

The outcry triggered by Hsia’s remarks was aggravated by footage of a nine-hour “discussion,” which saw Hsia, former department chairman Ho Tung-hung (何東洪) and students putting Wu and her boyfriend, surnamed Chu (朱), on trial and chastising the couple over the “defamation” of the department since Chu first revealed the incident in May this year.

Netizens also accused the department of attempting to cover up the case and criticized its failure to protect Wu’s identity by asking her to attend the discussion, even though Hsia insisted that Wu made the decision to attend after consulting with her friends.

The petition had 285 signatures as of press time last night.

Fu Jen dean Hsia’s TV comments to be reviewed

By Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday confirmed that it has received multiple complaints over Fu Jen Catholic University College of Social Sciences dean Hsia Lin-ching’s (夏林清) comments about a victim of a sexual assault on a political talk show, adding that an independent committee would review the program before determining if any punitive measures should be taken against the television network.

NCC Chairwoman Nicole Chan (詹婷怡) said that Hsia discussed the case of a female student at the university being raped by a fellow student on ERA News’ political talk show FaceNews.

The program was aired as Typhoon Megi made landfall in the nation on Tuesday.

As well as receiving the complaints from the public, Chan said that NCC employees had also watched Hsia talk about the case on the program.

Chan said that Hsia’s comments could have violated the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法) and the Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act (性侵害犯罪防治法).

She said the commission immediately contacted the network’s self-discipline committee and asked it to look into the incident. In the meantime, the commission would turn the case over to an independent committee to review the content of the program and determine if it had broken any regulations.

Hsia’s appearance on the talk show was deemed inappropriate by some media watchdog groups, as she was also a party in the case.

They said that Hsia should not have provided information that would reveal the identity of the victim in her conversations on the show.

Most teachers feel mobiles are biggest challenge: survey

By Lin Hsiao-yun and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Nearly two-thirds of elementary-school teachers find the use of cellphones in class by students to be their biggest challenge, according to a survey conducted by the King Car Educational Foundation to coincide with Teachers’ Day yesterday.

The survey, which asked teachers what challenges they face in their jobs, showed teachers are concerned that their influence over students is not as great as that of cellphones and the Internet, foundation secretary-general Tseng Ching-yun (曾清芸) said.

Tseng said the survey showed that 62.1 percent of teachers complained about widespread cellphone use in class, 63.5 percent about the growing influence of mobile Internet access and 62.4 percent about the excessively negative affect of online media.

Tseng said respondents also pointed to campus bullying (76.3 percent), school manners (65.7 percent), schoolyard safety (50.9), students disrupting class (67.4 percent), students talking excessively during class (44.4 percent) and students skipping class (37.4 percent) as challenges that they must overcome.

The survey also indicated that 44 percent of students have significantly few aspirations in their studies, while more than 82 percent of teachers expressed concern that students are increasingly of “poor quality.”

Teachers feel that their influence over students ranks fourth after parents, peers and cellphones, which Tseng said is evidence of their declining position.

The survey showed that 64.2 percent of respondents said they are particularly concerned about their ability to maintain the attention of their students, given a trend toward merging schools and reducing teaching staff.

“The school is no longer a place of knowledge, and the tradition of ‘revering the teacher, respecting the teachings’ has already changed. Youth today are easily influenced by online communities,” Tseng said, adding that society and heads of households must assist teachers to protect their influence.

Tseng advised teachers to keep their stress under control and positively approach the multifaceted nature of their students.

Lee Ya-ching (李雅菁), head of the National Federation of Teachers Unions’ Professional Development Center, said the problem of an excessive number of teachers continues to worsen, adding that changes to the teacher certification system must be considered, among other changes to the profession.

However, Lee said that schools cannot be expected to solve all of the problems they face while reducing staff numbers.

She said that thought should be put into finding ways of leveraging excess teachers to assist in the tutoring and disciplining of students, as well as assisting with pedagogical research.

“Do not increase teachers’ worries over an excess of educators [due to falling enrollment numbers caused by the nation’s low birthrate]. This is an opportunity to turn teaching around for the better,” Lee said.

Results and comments were compiled from 1,580 returned surveys out of a total of 2,000 sent to elementary-school teachers earlier this month, the foundation said.

Rehired teacher rejects ‘immoral behavior’ accusation

By Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

Music teacher Hsiao Hsia-ling (蕭曉玲) said she did not remember humiliating students, but even if she had, it would not have justified her dismissal from Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Junior High School.

Hsiao took the Taipei City Government to court in 2008, saying she had been wrongfully fired after a performance evaluation as an act of political retaliation by then-Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) administration, which she said was motivated by her opposition to the administration’s “one guideline, one curriculum” education policy.

Although the Supreme Administrative Court ruled in favor of the city in 2011, the Control Yuan issued a corrective measure against it in 2013, citing irregularities and procedural improprieties in the conduct of the city’s review board.

The Ministry of Education in January 2014 sent a letter to the Control Yuan to say that Hsiao had frequently referred to her students with “vulgar” expressions, such “tone deaf,” “lowlifes” and “jerks.”

Hsiao was back in the headlines last week, after Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Wednesday hired her to work at another city school, with compensation for nine years of back salary.

During a radio interview on Monday, Hsiao was asked whether she had ever called her former students “tone deaf” or “lowlifes.”

She said that she could not remember, adding that the matter was unrelated to her firing.

Raising her voice, she accused the show’s host of attacking her by asking if she had called a student “a piece of trash,” as her critics had alleged following her reinstatement.

She said she might have made the comment, but that even if she had, that did not mean she had displayed “immoral behavior that failed her position as a teacher,” which was the reason the school gave for dismissing her.

Hsiao said that she had consistently received an “A” in teacher evaluations before she filed a lawsuit in November 2007 against Hau over his “one guideline, one curriculum” policy. In the three months after her filing, she received a major demerit and then was fired, she said.

“No teachers have ever been treated the way I was treated,” she said, adding that between 2002 and 2010, Taipei fired just seven teachers, all of whom had been charged with sexual harassment or assault.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chung Hsiao-ping (鍾小平) on Monday said that the Taipei Department of Education has withheld documents authorizing Hsiao’s reinstatement

Chung, who filed a charge of dereliction of duty against Ko over rehiring Hsiao, said that if Taipei Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Tseng Tsan-chin (曾燦金) issues the documents, he would sue Tseng as well.

School apologizes to rape victim

Staff writer, with CNA

Fu Jen Catholic University president Chiang Han-sun (江漢聲) yesterday apologized over the school’s handling of a rape case, saying that as president, he was duty-bound to express regret and sadness for the university’s failure to protect the victim from ongoing psychological pain.

A psychology major surnamed Wu (吳) was allegedly raped at an event in June last year by a student in the same department.

In May, Wu’s boyfriend posted an article on Facebook criticizing comments made by the university’s College of Social Sciences dean Hsia Lin-ching (夏林清).

He accused the dean of covering up the case, which he said had caused the victim further harm.

Wu apologized to Hsia and those involved in the case on Facebook.

The post provoked outrage among netizens, with many questioning why a sexual assault victim should be made to apologize, with some questioning if she had been forced to do so.

Control Yuan member Yang Mei-ling (楊美鈴) is investigating the case and whether the university has been negligent in its responsibilities.

The university on Friday at a news conference announced Hsia had been suspended from her duties at the recommendation of the school’s gender equality committee.

The Ministry of Education also released a statement saying that it had issued a notice to the university that its handling of the sexual assault case violated the Gender Equality Education Act (性別平等教育法) and demanded that the school provide a proposal to improve their response to the case by Oct. 31.

Failure to meet the school’s gender equality committee’s demands will lead to penalties, the ministry said.

Hacker collective Anonymous’ Hong Kong branch on Saturday said on Facebook that the university’s Web site had been disabled at 1:30pm.

The hack was aimed at prompting the university to settle the case before Oct. 20 by bringing the alleged rapist, Wang (王), to justice and an official apology for Wu.

Chiang said the school will always stand by its students and the case is being investigated by a third party, adding that he hopes the school, students and teachers can return to peace.

Taipei education commissioner resigns

By Ho Shih-chang and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taipei Department of Education commissioner Tang Chih-min is seen in this undated photo. The department yesterday confirmed Tang has tendered resignation to Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je.

Photo: CNA

Taipei Department of Education Commissioner Tang Chih-min (湯志民) has tendered his resignation to Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).

In an open letter to department staff yesterday, Tang said he had “completed the mission assigned for this phase,” and that he expects to resume teaching at National Chengchi University on Saturday.

Sources said Tang tendered his resignation on Tuesday.

Tang’s resignation coincided with Taipei Department of Legal Affairs Commissioner Yang Fang-ling’s (楊芳玲) resignation on Tuesday.

It is believed that Ko’s decision to reinstate former Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Junior High School music teacher Hsiao Hsiao-ling (蕭曉玲) — which was made public the same day — led to Yang’s and Tang’s resignations, as both were involved in the decision to fire Hsiao.

Hsiao in 2008 took the city government to court, saying she was wrongfully fired after a performance evaluation as an act of political retaliation by then-Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) administration, which she said was motivated by her opposition to the Hau administration’s “one guideline, single textbook” education policy.

Although the Supreme Administrative Court ruled in favor of the city government in 2011, the Control Yuan issued a corrective measure against the city in 2013, citing irregularities and procedural improprieties in the conduct of the review board.

On Wednesday, Ko rescinded Hsiao’s contract and re-employed her at another city school, with compensation for nine years’ worth of salary owed to the teacher.

In response to reporters’ questions yesterday, Ko said he received Tang’s resignation, but had not accepted it yet, adding that he would decide whether to accept the resignation when the city government returns to work today.

When asked whether Yang and Tang’s resignations were linked, Ko said: “Everything has two sides, and there comes a time when a choice must be made.”

Regarding Hsiao’s case, it is the responsibility of a mayor to take action when an innocent person has been wronged by the legal system, Ko said, adding that certain issues cannot be redressed by legal procedures alone.

Ko said that the goal of transitional justice is to prevent repeating mistakes, adding that while he has been criticized of “leaving a good deed incomplete,” he continues to favor the redressing of mistreated people in a way that does not contribute to a “cycle of retribution.”

“If a perpetrator must be found in this case, let me take the blame,” he said.

The replacement of political appointees are “like divorces” in that they are routine occurrences that happen due to questions of “compatibility and not of mistakes,” Ko said, adding that 24 commissioners had quit in the first four years of Hau’s administration.

Teachers told to work on Teachers’ Day

By Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Teachers are being told they have to work on Teachers’ Day on Wednesday next week, while other workers are to have a day off as a bill to implement a “one fixed day off, one flexible rest day” workweek is reviewed by the legislature.

Ministry of Education official Chen Pei-chun (陳佩君) said that because private and public-school teachers are covered by the Teachers’ Act (教師法) rather than the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), teachers will not have a day off on Teacher’s Day.

However, private-kindergarten teachers, who are covered by Labor Standards Act regulations, do not have to work on Wednesday next week, Chen said.

After the 40-hour workweek came into effect this year in accordance with an amendment to the Labor Standards Act, workers have been entitled to seven national holidays, Chen said.

As workers faced a 42-hour workweek, but were given two days off every week, the seven holidays — designated by the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration — were not observed for years to make up for the loss in work hours, she said.

The inconsistent rules have drawn criticism from public servants and teachers with kindergarten-aged children, with the workers having no Teachers’ Day break, while the places their children normally attend are not open.

The rules have also affected university students’ schedules, as students working part-time as teachers’ assistants — with those positions covered by the Labor Standards Act — have Teachers’ Day off, while their peers who are not employed by universities have to work.

National Taiwan University and National Taiwan Normal University have said that students working as teachers’ assistants do not have to work on Wednesday next week.

Chen said the same confusion could arise again next month with Retrocession Day on Oct. 25 and Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) birthday on Oct. 31 if the legislation on the “one day off, one flexible rest day” — which will determine whether the seven holidays will be retained — is not passed.

Sacking was ‘nightmare’: teacher

SOURCE OF INJUSTICE: Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien compared Hsaio Hsiao-ling’s case to a poisonous arrow which had impaled the capital’s education system

By Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Former Zhongshan Junior High School teacher Hsiao Hsiao-ling, who was dismissed in 2008 after opposing a policy introduced by then-Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin, attends a news conference in Taipei yesterday following her reinstatement by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je.

Photo: CNA

Civic groups and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei city councilors yesterday demanded that the Taipei City Government take action against education officials and school administrators implicated in the “blatant” dismissal of Zhongshan Junior High School music teacher Hsiao Hsiao-ling (蕭曉玲).

Hsiao was joined by several civic groups and DPP Taipei city councilors at a news conference in Taipei a day after Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) reinstated her.

Hsiao said that she was persecuted by school officials and then sacked in 2008 for suing then-Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) over the local government’s “one guideline, one curriculum,” education policy.

Recounting the events that led to her dismissal, Hsiao said it was “like a nightmare.”

She said that she had not expected to lose the lawsuit against Hau, as she believed she was defending teachers’ right to choose from a diversity of teaching materials.

She said that she similarly was not expecting to fail when she filed a lawsuit against the local education officials who dismissed her.

However, she failed on both counts.

“However, due to my foolhardiness, I refused to believe that fairness and justice would not be upheld,” she said.

Hsiao said that the first thing she wants to do after she is reinstated is to sweep her father’s tomb, tears welling up as she spoke.

“He always believed that I had done nothing wrong. He always believed in me and I want to tell him: ‘I did it,’” she said.

Hsiao thanked Ko for reinstating her, but said that he would not be able to fulfill the noble gesture if the education personnel involved in her dismissal remained unpunished.

“What I find hardest to swallow is that the school used my innocent students against me when it made them hold up a banner that read: ‘Unfit teacher, get out of here’ in front of the school gates,” she said, likening it to persecutions carried out by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against its critics during the Cultural Revolution.

Hsiao said that both former Zhongshan Junior High School principal Tseng Mei-hui (曾美蕙) and student affairs director Chu Wu-wo (朱毋我), who she said played key roles in her sacking, have been promoted and are now the principals of Taipei Municipal Min Lun High School and Taipei Min Quan Junior High School respectively.

“Should people like them have such high office and be allowed to unabashedly lecture students? How in the world is this promoting transitional justice if such people go unpunished?” she said.

Humanistic Education Foundation chairman Shih Ying (史英) said that the school conspired against Hsiao when it said that she resisted counseling over groundless accusations that she had been negligent, paving the way for her dismissal.

Hsiao had requested that then-Research Center for Psychological and Educational Testing director Lin Shih-hua (林世華) serve in the group of counselors assembled by the school, but the school rejected her request and withdrew the possibility of holding counseling sessions after just two days, Shih said.

“I strongly suggest that these lawless scumbags be handed their just deserts, for they have shown all 23 million Taiwanese that they can do as they please,” he said.

Shih urged those involved in Hsiao’s dismissal to write her an open letter of apology, so that they might be forgiven.

Lawyer Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智), who represented Hsiao on a pro bono basis, said that Hau should bear the greatest responsibility for the bullying of Hsiao, as he had abused his administrative powers.

He said that the Control Yuan — which took the corrective measures against the local education department that led to Hsiao’s reinstatement — should probe Hau’s involvement in the case.

Northern Taiwan Society vice chairman Lee Chuan-hsin (李川信) said that not only Hau, but all the officials involved in the case should take responsibility for their wrongdoing.

“The perpetrators are also educators. If they go unpunished, how can transitional justice be taught at schools?” Lee asked.

“Finally, Ko has done the right thing,” DPP Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) said.

He criticized those who persecuted Hsiao, accusing the school of attempting to “erase students’ humanity” by turning them against their teacher.

“By taking advantage of students’ innocence, they were more vicious than the CCP,” he said.

Comparing the case to a poisonous arrow which had impaled the education system, Wang said that Hsiao’s reinstatement only served to remove the shaft, but to remove the arrow head the source of the injustice must be rooted out.

Teachers’ meeting leave revocation legal: department

By Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

The Taipei Department of Education yesterday said that its revocation of meeting leave granted to Taipei Teachers’ Association members was carried out in accordance with the law, amid criticism that the move amounted to a form of bullying against the group.

The department said that the practice of allowing teachers to take up to four hours of leave to attend association meetings had been pronounced illegal and corrected by the Control Yuan in 2014.

The practice had caused it to pay substitute teachers up to NT$10 million (US$315,567) in salaries every year, it said, adding that the revocation of the leave was in line with efforts to uphold transitional justice.

If the need arises for association members to take leave to attend meetings, they should follow the Rules Governing Teachers’ Leave (教師請假規則), it said.

The statement raised the ire of the National Federation of Teachers’ Unions (NFTU), which held a news conference on Tuesday to denounce the cancelation of meeting leave.

NFTU president Chang Hsu-cheng (張旭政) said that the Teachers’ Act (教師法) stipulates that the purpose of teachers’ association meetings were to discuss issues relating to education and pensions, but that the department had painted teachers in a negative light by linking the cancelation of meeting leave to transitional justice, as it implied that teachers had enjoyed a privilege by taking advantage of the leave.

Chang said that meeting leave had traditionally been covered by employment guidelines negotiated between local education authorities and teachers’ unions and associations, and that putting teachers’ meeting leave under the jurisdiction of the Rules Governing Teachers’ Leave would complicate the procedure they need to undergo before being granted leave.

He said that the department should not renege on agreements set forth in employment guidelines on meeting leave until the act is amended to include statutes that deal with the issue.

The NFTU called on the Ministry of Education to shed light on the issue.

In response, the department reiterated its position on canceling the leave.

“It is the hope of both parents and the department that full-time teachers prioritize students’ learning,” the department said. “Teachers are obliged to teach, so they must not affect students’ right to education.”

Department division head Huang Kuo-chung (黃國忠) said that unless the department invited association members to a meeting, it would no longer pay salaries to substitute teachers standing in for teachers attending association meetings, meaning such teachers would need to pay substitute teachers from their own pockets.

The Ministry of Education backed the department’s stance on meeting leave.

The ministry’s Personnel Department said that it used to grant teachers leave to attend teachers’ association meetings hoping to help their operation “get on track.”

However, the department said that the ministry instructed 12 local education authorities to abolish the practice after being corrected by the Control Yuan, adding that with the exception of Taipei, all cities and counties had ended the practice.