17 LABOR UNIONS FOR TEACHERS TO BE SET UP IN MAY

Starting next month, labor unions for teachers will be set up for the first time in 17 cities and counties around the island, thanks to labor law amendments last year. However, while the change is considered a step forward in the protection of teachers' rights, some parents are wondering whether it'll bring a negative impact on the students.

On May 1st, members of the National Teachers' Association will finally be able to unionize.

According to the NTA, Taipei County has been in violation of the Education Act ever since it joined Taipei City and Keelung in holding their own high school entrance exams and implementing their own "one guideline, one textbook" policy.

The NTA believes that the reason so many educational policies have gone astray in Taiwan is because Taiwan has always lacked a professional, authoritative teachers' union to participate in policy-making.

17 municipalities have already confirmed the establishment of local teachers' unions on May 1st, and the remaining cities and counties in Taiwan are expected to follow suit.

However, educators in some municipalities are concerned that local unions will be ineffective without majority participation.

In response to parents' concerns about the effect that unionization will have on students' rights, the NTA says that educational professionalism will remain its top priority, and that unionizing will allow it to protect the rights of its members while also improving the quality of education in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, its first task at hand will be dividing certain classes into more specialized classes in higher grades to improve the basic abilities of students.

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