The Ministry of Education has increased the number of junior high school security manpower, and the Taiwan Educational Industry Union affirmed and raised two major concerns

The Ministry of Education will gradually increase the number of school security manpower in junior high schools to 2,000. The Taiwan Education Industry Union issued a statement late today (24th) affirming the direction of "professional division of teaching and school security". It believes that front-line teachers will no longer work alone. However, it also raised two major concerns, including that the new manpower is not a formal establishment and may be lost due to high pressure and insufficient career security. In addition, school violence and deviant behavior have been declining in age. Elementary schools also urgently need dedicated school security manpower, calling on the Ministry of Education to take stock of the needs of elementary schools in the next step.

The Executive Yuan today decided that the Ministry of Education will promote the three-year "School Safety Resilience 2000 - Enrichment of Junior High School Security Manpower Plan". It is expected to invest 1.2 billion yuan per year to gradually increase the junior high school security manpower to 2,000 people. The allocation will be based on the school class size, with 1 person for classes below 6, 2 for classes 7 to 36, and 3 for classes above 37.

Kuo Yan-cheng, chairman of the Taiwan Education Industry, said that for a long time, front-line teachers have often had to maintain class order while handling crises when faced with students losing control of their emotions or sudden conflicts between teachers, students or peers, which puts a heavy physical and mental burden on them. This time, dedicated school security manpower has been clearly allocated to be responsible for safety maintenance, student accompanying and follow-up processing, which can provide teachers with immediate support and stabilize the teaching scene.

However, Guo Yancheng pointed out that the newly added school security manpower is non-establishment contract personnel, and school security work must face high-pressure work such as conflict, drug prevention, and bullying response for a long time. Without stable career protection, legal backing, and reasonable retention measures, there may be a high turnover rate, and even the dilemma of "having money but not recruiting people" calls on the Ministry of Education to evaluate and gradually incorporate school security manpower into the formal establishment of schools.

Guo Yancheng also pointed out that according to previous statistics from the Ministry of Education, reports of school violence and deviant behavior have increased. Among them, the number of reports in elementary schools has increased by about 94% in several years. Peer conflicts and safety issues in the upper grades of elementary schools cannot be ignored. However, the additional manpower this time is limited to junior high schools.

The Taiwan Education Industry called on the addition of school security manpower in junior high schools to be only the first step in improving the school safety support system. The Ministry of Education should further take stock of the actual needs of elementary schools across the country and allocate full-time school security manpower according to the junior high school model to prevent elementary schools from becoming a gap in the school safety support system.