Education minister meets student protesters

Education Minister Chiang Wei-ling (蔣偉寧), right, responds to
students' statements in front of the Ministry of Education, yesterday.

The China Post--Student rights groups protested in front of the Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday, demanding schools scrap regulations that violate human rights.

Education Minister Chiang Wei-ling (蔣偉寧) came out of the MOE building to meet the protesting students, but no agreements were made.

The protesters said schools generally restrict students' rights to publish, hold public assemblies and form associations. Some school regulations are sexist, they said.

Such regulations exist in 120 universities and colleges in Taiwan, they claimed.

“It is very ironic to have school regulations against human rights and freedoms in this free and democratic society of Taiwan,” said a protester, surnamed Hsu. “If these regulations extend from schools to society, it would destroy the democracy that Taiwanese people are so very proud of.”