South Korean Universities Can Reject Bullies, National Taiwan University Agrees to Discuss in Academic Affairs Meeting

(Central News Agency reporter Chen Chih-chung, Taipei, 30th) Kuomintang (KMT) legislator Ko Chih-en today questioned the Legislative Yuan, mentioning that several South Korean universities have announced they will reject campus bullies, and hoped that Taiwan's universities and colleges would consider following suit. National Taiwan University Vice President Tseng Wan-ju responded that the proposal would be discussed in an academic affairs meeting to gather opinions from faculty, staff, and student representatives.

The Legislative Yuan's Education and Culture Committee today reviewed budgets for national university and college academic affairs funds, with presidents or vice presidents from all national universities attending.

During her interpellation, KMT legislator Ko Chih-en mentioned that several well-known South Korean universities have recently set standards that would permanently reject students who committed campus bullying during high school.

Ko Chih-en believes that South Korea's approach demonstrates that universities not only care about scores but also bear social responsibility, and this has sparked discussion in Taiwanese society. She asked the National Taiwan University representative present to state their position on whether they would be willing to follow this system.

In response, National Taiwan University Vice President Tseng Wan-ju stated that NTU absolutely adheres to the spirit of "zero tolerance for bullying," but still needs to consider individual case situations and protect student rights.

Under further questioning from Ko Chih-en, Tseng Wan-ju said that if society believes there is a need for discussion, NTU is willing to propose it for discussion in the academic affairs meeting to gather opinions from faculty, staff, and student representatives.

In addition, Ko Chih-en asked about the controversy and trust crisis surrounding the abolition or retention of the learning portfolio system. Tseng Wan-ju stated that she herself had participated in the second stage of application-based admissions screening, and the importance placed on learning portfolios varied greatly among different departments, so she could not answer on behalf of every department. (Editor: Wu Su-jou) 1150430