From the next school year, students are no longer required to embroider their names on their school uniforms, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said yesterday.
The Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy said it had received complaints from students who had been harassed by people who had seen their names on their uniforms and found their information online.
The K-12 Education Administration convened a meeting involving all education-related authorities, including representative groups for school presidents, parents and students, to discuss the issue, Pan said.
Photo: CNA
All who were present agreed that students’ names should be dropped from their uniforms, but their numbers should be kept, as they could be used to identify them in an emergency, he said.
The Ministry of Education found that one-quarter of all schools in the country demand that only male students embroider their names on their uniforms, Pan said adding that schools should not discriminate based on gender.
At present, 8 percent of elementary schools require their students to have their names on their uniforms, while half of all junior-high and high schools have the requirement, Pan said.
Official notices would be sent to all authorities and schools as soon as possible, and all schools should involve parents and students and come to a conclusion that would observe the ministry’s decision before the start of the next term in August, Pan said.
It is hoped that all uniform and dress code committees discuss the issue objectively and refrain from adopting measures for the pure sake of management, Pan said.
Pan also said that he hoped schools would begin reviewing other antiquated regulations, such as forbidding students to wear warmer clothing on colder days.
Separately, the association praised the ministry’s decision, but said that schools should involve student representatives when discussing dress code policies.
The association said it respects the opinions of others regarding the decision to keep student identification numbers on uniforms, adding that it hoped all students’ right to privacy would be protected.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
RSS