In order to solve the problem of long-term shortage of teachers and resources in rural schools, the Legislative Yuan passed the "Draft Amendment to Articles 12, 15, and 17 of the Regulations on Education Development of Schools in Remote Areas" on the third reading today (21st), relaxing the branching and classification of primary schools in remote and indigenous tribes, loosening the restrictions on existing teaching venues, and establishing a professional development support and innovative teaching award subsidy mechanism for teachers in rural areas. The review meeting also passed three accompanying resolutions, requiring guidance to establish branches or separate classes in areas with inconvenience, making training mainly online, and proposing a teacher professional development mechanism within one year.
The third reading article stipulates that if a village, village or tribe is more than 5 kilometers away from the nearest public elementary school and there is no public or free transportation, and there are more than 15 students in the jurisdiction, an elementary school branch or separate class should be established; if there are less than 15 students, the local competent authority will evaluate the establishment of a branch class or teaching place, subsidize transportation and insurance fees, or arrange boarding at the school with the consent of the parents.
This amendment also loosens the restrictions on existing teaching venues in remote rural areas. For branch campuses, sub-classes or teaching sites located in mountainous townships in aboriginal ethnic areas approved by the Executive Yuan, if the local competent authority determines that there is no risk of danger, before obtaining a building use license or legal use certificate, a structural safety appraisal issued by an architect, civil engineering technician or structural engineering technician, and a fire safety equipment compliance certificate issued by a fire protection equipment personnel can be used as an alternative mechanism, and must be reported to the local competent authority for review every year.
Regarding teachers in rural areas, the third reading article also requires the central government to coordinate and plan the professional development support mechanism for teachers in schools in remote areas, integrate resources such as local governments, schools, teacher training universities, non-profit organizations, civil society and professional institutions, and prepare budget support; local governments must take stock of the needs of rural schools within their jurisdiction and provide professional development services for teachers nearby. In addition, the central and local governments can plan for outstanding teachers from general areas to go to remote villages for teaching visits, and can also arrange for teachers from rural areas to go to schools in general areas for exchanges.
The third reading article also adds innovative measures for rural teaching. The central government should encourage and subsidize schools in remote areas to promote mixed-age classes, mixed-age teaching, and school-type experimental education, and combine local characteristics, outdoor education, independent diverse learning, and individualized teaching. Teacher professional support mechanisms can also be used to introduce external resources to improve teaching quality.
The Legislative Yuan Review Committee also passed three accompanying resolutions, including: 1. For villages or tribes that are less than 5 kilometers away from public elementary schools but have inconvenient access to schools, the Ministry of Education should promptly guide local governments in the direction of setting up branch schools or separate classes; 2. Considering transportation and time costs, remote education should be Staff training should be mainly online, with physical management given priority by zoning methods; 3. The Ministry of Education should work with the public and private sectors to inventory resource needs, allocate funds and manpower, propose a professional development support mechanism for rural teachers within one year after the implementation of this regulation, and review the effectiveness regularly.
Democratic Progressive Party legislator Wu Lihua said that this amendment is expected to solve the problem of Simacus being unable to obtain legal status for 23 years. There was no external road in Simacus 30 years ago. Children had to spend one or two days going to and from school, going down to the river valley and then climbing up to Xinguang Elementary School on the opposite mountain. Even if there was a road later, it still took about an hour and a half to get to and from school.
Wu Lihua said that the tribe decided to leave their children on the land 23 years ago and build their own classrooms and education. However, due to restrictions on land, building and school setting regulations, this learning place that actually exists and takes care of children for a long time has never been able to obtain full legal status. This revision of the law is based on the premise of "no compromise on safety" and through professional structural safety assessment, fire inspection and annual review, so that teaching places in indigenous areas can obtain a legal operating mechanism.
Wu Lihua also said that Article 15 is to solve the problem of lack of stable professional support for teachers in rural areas, while Article 17 focuses on the lack of resources for teaching innovation. Through the support mechanism to match external resources, "letting the law respond to the scene" is the most important meaning of this law revision.
