From Aug. 1, high-school students would be offered three “mental health adjustment” days off per semester to help them, their parents and their school care for their psychological well-being, the Ministry of Education said yesterday.
The ministry announced that it would soon revise Article 24 of the Methods for Assessing Student Learning in Senior Secondary Schools (高級中等學校學生學習評量辦法) by adding “mental health adjustment” and “menstrual cycles” as permissible grounds for students to take time off.
While college and university students are allowed to take time off to care for their mental health, high-school students are not allowed to do so, the ministry said.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
Allowing high-school students to have mental health adjustment days would help them balance their physical and mental health, handle any psychological discomfort and monitor their own psychological well-being, the ministry said, adding that it would also give parents and schools the opportunity to monitor the students.
Students can also take a half day or one day at a time, it added.
In March, the ministry began a trial of the new policy at 42 high schools across the country.
Results of the trial showed that a majority of schools would allow students to take time off if they are experiencing mild psychological discomfort, if they get consent from their parents or primary guardians.
Although most schools would not count students who take mental health adjustment leave as being absent, they would not be recognized as having a full attendance record.
The Taiwan Youth Foundation for Democracy wrote on Facebook that it recognizes the ministry’s efforts to boost the mental health of high-school students, but said that other supporting measures must be put in place to ensure the success of the new policy, such as giving students counseling information when they seek help.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS