Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin arrived at the Jan Cheng Junior High School for an education forum on June 9. He spoke with the members from Taipei Teachers’ Association and the representatives from Zhongshan District and Datong District. During the meeting, the mayor and participating teachers exchanged opinions on a wide range of education issues, from the election of school principals to the impact of declining birth rate upon school administration. Hau asked for the audience’s opinion on how to improve the quality of education. He stressed the importance of face-to-face communication, enabling the city government to learn more about the difficulties confronting frontline educators. He believes that progress can be achieved through cooperation. Citing a report by the Economist, Hau said Taipei City ranked first place in the field of education among 145 cities worldwide. He attributed the honor to teachers at all levels, encouraging them to exceed further in their achievements. A number of teachers expressed concerns over the banning of corporal punishment at schools. Teachers encounter greater difficulties when trying to discipline students over misbehaviors. Under the new directives, punishments such as having students stand in the hallway, writing lines, and even calling them by nicknames could be considered corporal punishment, resulting in complaints received through the 1999 Citizens Hotline. Regarding this issue, Hau clarified that the purpose for establishing the 1999 call center was to solve problems residents encounter; it is not intended to be a tool for finding faults with public servants. He asked the call center and the Department of Education (DOE) to handle requests that appear to be irrational accordingly.