by Brian Hioe

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Photo Credit: 象心力/WikiCommons/CC BY-SA 3.0

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE groups demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Education at the end of March against the ministry not conducting a vote on draft amendments to the University Act. The draft amendments would increase the number of student representatives on university councils from the current 10% to 20%. Groups involved include the National Students’ Union of Taiwan, as well as various student councils from schools across Taiwan.

In particular, presidents of universities are accused of blocking voting and discussion of the bill, with the view that this is a means by which university administrations are hoping to keep students out of the discussion process for decisions made about campuses. Students were critical of that under the provisions of the current University Act, half of the representatives on university councils should be teachers, but as many teachers also serve as administrators, this gives them undue power.

While the draft amendments to the University Act having already cleared the Education and Culture Committee of the Legislative Yuan, it was only afterward that university presidents expressed opposition. As such, university presidents were accused of deliberately seeking to block the process. Consequently, though the draft amendments were to be discussed in February, this did not take place.

To this extent, student groups are also critical of that the process for nominating presidents for private universities currently only requires selections by the members of the board of trustees, displacing students from the process. As such, students call for changes to the University Act to allow for changes.

Photo credit: 氏子/WikiCommons/CC BY-SA 4.0

It is not uncommon for student representative groups to come into conflict with university administrations. This can be over issues about student life, such as regarding parking, infrastructure, programming, or school rules. Another major issue in past years has also been the rising cost of education, with student groups seeking to stand against what they viewed as the commodification of education in Taiwan.

This particularly proves an issue at a time of declining birth rates, with the education system in Taiwan criticized as having too many universities, many of which have tried to pivot toward attracting international students. As such, universities have been accused of exploiting both Taiwanese and international students, as in cases where international students are made to work in factories as part of what are claimed to be work-study arrangements.

At the same time, this can also be along political lines. For example, with pan-Blue academic Kuan Chung-ming then serving as the chair of National Taiwan University (NTU), in June 2020, the NTU student council accused the university administration of smearing its campaign for designating landmarks on campus related to Taiwan’s struggle for transitional justice.

Indeed, part of the sensitivity of the issue is because of the strong tradition of student activism in Taiwan, going back to the White Terror. Student movements such as 1990 Wild Lily Movement played a key role in Taiwan’s democratization–indeed, former Wild Lily Movement student leader Fan Yun was among those present at the demonstration over the University Act. This legacy continues after democratization, with student-led movements such as the 2008 Wild Strawberry Movement and 2014 Sunflower Movement, and significant student participation in other major social movements, such as the 2017 and 2018 protests against changes to the Labor Standards Act.

Taiwan’s authoritarian period also resulted in the importance of the principle of campus autonomy. This goes all the way back to the 228 Massacre, with NTU president Fu Si-nian vowing that authorities should not touch NTU students as part of their crackdown. This has served as a means by which campuses are upheld against partisan politics, though the pan-Blue camp has sought to accuse the Tsai administration of infringing on campus autonomy through scandals such as that broke out over the appointment of Kuan Chung-ming.

Namely, Kuan was appointed president despite conflicts of interest on the selection committee and teaching posts that Kuan may have held in China not being known at the time. Nevertheless, when the Tsai administration tried to prevent Kuan’s appointment, the pan-Blue camp criticized the Tsai administration as infringing upon academic and political freedoms.

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