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Schools
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Corporal punishment is prohibited in schools under the Fundamental Law of Education, as amended in December 2006 (in force January 2007). Previously the Law had emphasised that education should respect human dignity but with the amendments prohibition was made explicit. The new article 8(2) states: “The State should protect students’ rights to learning, to education, to their physical integrity and their human dignity, and should protect them from any form of corporal punishment, which constitutes a physical and psychological violation.” The new article 15 states: “Where a teacher’s right to professional autonomy or a student’s rights to learning, to education, to his or her physical integrity and human dignity is improperly or illegally violated by the school or by the educational authority, the Government should, pursuant to relevant laws and regulations, provide the victim or his/her statutory representative with effective and fair channels for remedies.” The prohibition applies to all educational institutions, including public and private schools and kindergartens, universities and all types of “cram” schools. In May 2007, draft guidelines supporting the prohibition were released by the Ministry of Education.
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In a nationwide survey by the Humanistic Education Foundation of 2,779 elementary and junior high school students in April and May 2007 more than 52.8% reported receiving corporal punishment, representing a decline compared with the figure of 64% for 2005. There was also a change in the types of punishment inflicted – student beatings dropped from 51% in 2005 to 27.3% in 2007, while the use of fazhan (standing for a certain period of time) increased from 9.7% in 2005 to 35% in 2007. (Reported in the Taipei Times, 4 June 2007)
In January 2007, the findings from a survey of 5,630 elementary and junior high school educators who had attended discussions hosted by the 21st Century Education Association in autumn 2006 were published, revealing that 30% of teachers believed that corporal punishment is appropriate and necessary in improving academic performance, study skills and students’ characters; 60% felt that educators would continue to use physical force as a disciplinary measure, despite the prohibition of corporal punishment in law; 69% felt that an online forum for sharing and discussing positive disciplinary methods would facilitate the move away from corporal punishment. (Reported in The China Post, 19 January 2007)
The Humanistic Education Foundation has conducted five surveys since 1999 which have shown a decline in the use of corporal punishment in schools. In 1999, 83.4% of students interviewed reported experiencing corporal punishment in that academic year. In 2000, the figure was 74.2%, in 2001 70.9%, and in 2004 it was 69.4%. In 2005, the survey was conducted in 23 cities/counties in Taiwan, involving 3,240 respondents (1,164 junior high school students and 2,076 primary school students). Almost two thirds of students (65.1%) reported having experienced corporal punishment, 56.2% of primary school students and 70% of junior high school students. The most common form of corporal punishment was by hitting on the palms or bottoms with a hand or stick (47.7%). Direct infliction of physical pain was used in 56.8% of cases (including hitting with a hand or stick, deprivation of physical needs, holding painful postures). Almost a quarter (23.9%) of students received punishment that may constitute crimes of assault, instigation of assault or public insults. Almost one in ten (9.5%) of those who experienced physical pain were punished in this way over 10 times during the year. (Humanistic Education Foundation, 2005, How much does it hurt? Only the children can tell: HEF 2005 survey of corporal punishment in schools, HEF)
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TAIWAN