The Ministry of Education will reform the school meeting system today (7th), clarifying that if a teacher's behavior is clearly not punishable by law or meets the school's reasonable discipline regulations, the school should directly close the case and resolve conflicts through teacher-student communication, administrative interviews, etc. Chen Qingyi, chairman of the National Association of Primary and Secondary School Principals, affirmed this direction and believed that compared with all cases entering formal procedures, the new system allows schools to handle campus disputes in a "relatively warm way" and allows the education scene to maintain space for communication.
The Ministry of Education revised Article 8 of the Measures for Dismissal of Teachers, clarifying that after a school receives a report, if the teacher's behavior is clearly not punishable by law, or complies with the school's guidance or discipline for students in accordance with Article 32, Paragraph 2 of the Teachers Law, the case shall be closed, and the reporter shall be notified in writing with stated reasons within 20 days from the date of receipt of the report, and there is no need to convene a meeting to decide whether to accept the report.
Chen Qingyi said that this amendment has given schools room to make pre-judgments and not enter school affairs meetings, which can reduce the burden on schools to hold school affairs meetings and also give teachers room to be exempted from liability for legal guidance and discipline.
Chen Qingyi affirmed that the new regulations stipulate that schools can try to resolve conflicts through communication between teachers and students, administrative talks or other reasonable and effective methods. He believes that in the past, when cases entered formal procedures, it was easy to form confrontations. The new system provides another way to handle cases, so that schools do not have to go through the investigation process for everything. "I feel that disputes can be resolved in a warmer way."
However, Chen Qingyi also raised the question, "Who will judge? Who in the school decides to close the case?" He said that although the new system gives schools room to directly close cases, in actual implementation, who determines that teachers' behavior complies with reasonable discipline and who makes the decision to close the case still needs to be further clarified.
He also pointed out that the new system stipulates that after the school closes the case, the whistleblower can still submit a complaint, which will be reviewed and decided by the competent authority. This premise of "treating schools as a legal venue rather than an educational venue" still exists. If the system is like a court that can continuously propose remedies, it may still place a huge burden on school administrators, which may make teachers even less willing to devote themselves to administrative work in the long run.
