The Ministry of Education is promoting the reform of school council meetings and today invited relevant groups to hold a discussion meeting. How to avoid abusive lawsuits and protect students' rights has become the focus. The Taiwan Youth Democratic Association (EdYouth) issued a statement after the meeting stating that whether school cases need to be subject to follow-up investigation and processing, we should return to the incident itself and specific evidence, rather than simply distinguishing "big and small cases". It also advocated that the county and city government education bureaus can establish an off-campus dedicated investigation mechanism to be responsible for the preliminary judgment, investigation and subsequent diversion of cases.
Cai Qiye, chairman of EdYouth, pointed out that the infringement of students’ rights on campus is something that needs to be dealt with seriously. For cases that have been clearly involved in physical and mental violence, bullying or other serious infringements of students' rights, investigation procedures should be initiated in accordance with the law; as for cases that can be improved through counseling, communication or support mechanisms, a clearer preliminary screening and diversion mechanism should be established to avoid cases of different natures being handled with the same procedures.
Cai Qiye said that it often happens at school practice sites that administrative staff are not familiar enough with relevant laws and regulations and investigation procedures. For example, they are not clear about avoidance, confidentiality obligations and related identification procedures during case handling, which may affect the fairness of case handling and the rights and interests of the parties involved. If the Education Bureau establishes a dedicated mechanism, it will not only reduce the administrative manpower burden on schools, but also allow cases to be handled under a professional mechanism.
EdYouth also reminded that local governments still have differences in their administrative capacity, professional manpower and practical experience in handling cases. If investigation responsibilities are handed over to local governments, they must think about how to ensure that different counties and cities have consistent and trustworthy investigation standards and procedures.
EdYouth suggested that reference should be made to the current division of powers and responsibilities between the central and local governments in private schools. For example, in the six major cities, local governments are responsible for case investigation, and the remaining counties and cities are coordinated by the Ministry of Education. The central government should establish investigation standards, procedures, and supervision mechanisms to avoid gaps in students' rights and interests due to differences in local implementation.
In response to anonymous reports, Cai Qiye said that the issue of personal information leakage after student reports has been raised many times in the past, and it is recommended that the Ministry of Education improve the supervision and confidentiality mechanism of the competent authorities; when it comes to sensitive cases such as campus bullying, gender equality, and corporal punishment, multiple and safe channels for complaints should still be retained, taking into account the protection of the rights and interests of students and teachers.
