Amendment bans rogue teachers from childcare, seals kindergarten safety loopholes.

The Education and Culture Committee of the Legislative Yuan reviewed and successfully passed the preliminary review of the draft amendments to the Act Governing Educators and Staff of Preschool-based Care Services today. The core focus of this legislative amendment is to strengthen the protective safety net for kindergartens and various types of preschool education and care institutions, establishing stricter regulations specifically for handling mechanisms when education and care personnel are involved in illegal acts such as sexual assault, sexual harassment, or sexual bullying. According to the articles passed in the preliminary review, when education and care personnel are suspected of related cases and it is deemed truly necessary during the investigation period, their affiliated preschool-based care institution shall, in accordance with the law, temporarily suspend their employment, suspend them from duty, or suspend the execution of their contracts. More importantly, to prevent predatory teachers or law-breaking personnel from transferring and infiltrating other institutions to continue having contact with young children, the amendments explicitly stipulate that such personnel may not be employed by other preschool-based care institutions during the investigation period or after receiving disciplinary action, and other institutions also bear a strict review obligation and must absolutely not hire, appoint, or employ them.

For a long time, Taiwanese society has paid high attention to the safety protection of kindergartens and childcare institutions. Many parents send their young children to care institutions hoping they can grow up in a safe and worry-free environment. However, in past practical operations, reports often surfaced that certain education and care personnel involved in improper discipline, gender equity incidents, or sex crimes in their original institutions—following investigations or dismissals—were able to exploit regulatory loopholes or information gaps to transfer to other counties and cities or different institutions to continue teaching, creating a serious loophole in social security. To plug this defense loophole regarding the "movement of predatory teachers," the Legislative Yuan's amendment to the Act Governing Educators and Care Personnel aims to intercept the problem at the source, ensuring that unsuitable personnel cannot roam within the education and care system, thereby comprehensively enhancing the safety of early childhood care environments and the trust of parents.

Regarding specific legal regulations and execution levels, the articles passed in this preliminary review grant preschool-based care institutions more explicit mandatory disposal powers. When education and care personnel within an institution are suspected of offenses such as sexual assault, sexual harassment, or sexual bullying, competent authorities and institutions can no longer handle the matter merely through passive reassignments or leaves of absence; rather, if deemed necessary after evaluation during the investigation period, they must decisively adopt mandatory measures such as temporary suspension of employment, suspension from duty, or suspension of contract execution. This regulation not only immediately isolates the suspected personnel from contact with young children, but also prevents them from colluding on testimonies or contacting other students by taking advantage of their positions during the investigation. At the same time, the legal provisions also impose a ban on "job-transfer behavior," explicitly prohibiting suspected personnel from transferring to other preschool-based care institutions during the investigation or suspension period, fundamentally cutting off the possibility for lawbreakers to change career paths.

In addition to restrictions on individual suspects, the preliminarily reviewed articles also simultaneously increase the administrative responsibilities and vetting obligations of other preschool-based care institutions. In the past, some institutions, due to administrative oversights, failure to thoroughly check backgrounds, or considerations of manpower shortages, failed to strictly review the past experiences of applicants during the recruitment of new education and care personnel, allowing unsuitable personnel to exploit the system. The newly revised articles explicitly stipulate that other preschool-based care institutions "may not hire, appoint, or employ" such suspected personnel who are under investigation or have been dismissed. This means that all kindergartens and childcare institutions must establish more rigorous background checks and reporting inquiry mechanisms when employing education and care personnel. If they knowingly violate the law or fail to fulfill their review obligations by hiring unsuitable personnel, they will inevitably face related administrative penalties and legal liabilities in the future, which will prompt various institutions to adopt higher moral and legal standards in personnel recruitment.

From the perspective of overall educational policy and the context of social development, the preliminary passage of the amendments to the Act Governing Educators and Staff of Preschool-based Care Services symbolizes an important step forward for the nation in the protection of children's rights and campus safety. Children at the early childhood stage are not yet fully developed physically and mentally, and their language expression and self-protection abilities are relatively limited, making them heavily reliant on adults and institutional protection. Through this legislative amendment to address the gray areas in current regulations, the government and people's representatives are not only delivering basic justice to victims, but also making a concrete commitment to the safety and rights of all young children. As the bill subsequently enters cross-caucus consultations and the third reading procedure, all sectors of society also hope that related supporting measures will become more comprehensive, ensuring that grassroots institutions have sufficient administrative support and clear guidelines during implementation, truly achieving airtight execution and allowing every child to grow up safely in a secure and healthy environment.

(Source of facts: Central News Agency)