Ministry of Education's Teacher Appreciation Short Film Criticized as 'Horror Film' for 'Inducing Teachers to Commit Crimes'

The Ministry of Education's short film 'The Shape of 100 Points,' produced to celebrate Teacher's Day, was intended to be heartwarming but sparked outrage among grassroots teachers. The National Federation of Teachers' Unions (NFTO) bluntly called it a 'horror film that induces teachers to commit crimes.' NFTO pointed out that several scenes in the film deviate from regulations. At the beginning, a teacher publicly calls out students' grades. However, according to Article 11 of the 'Measures for Student Learning Assessment in Elementary and Middle Schools,' schools can only announce the distribution of scores, not individual rankings, potentially misleading the public into thinking teachers can disclose individual grades. More controversially, a teacher takes students into a private pottery studio for one-on-one interaction and puts an arm around a student to comfort them. NFTO Chairperson Lin Hui-jung stated that one-on-one situations between teachers and students are currently what teachers most fear, and it could violate the crime of coercion without parental consent. She added that putting an arm around a student, if related to sexual or gender issues, could trigger a gender equality investigation. She criticized the Ministry of Education for demanding teachers maintain strict boundaries while romanticizing high-risk interactions in the film, creating a stark contrast. Furthermore, the scene where a student uses a mobile phone during class and the teacher completely ignores it has led grassroots teachers to question the Ministry's stance on mobile phone management. Many teachers sarcastically remarked that the film depicts 'The Shape of a School Affairs Committee Meeting,' and the teacher character in the film would at least face two school affairs committee meetings in reality. NFTO emphasized that what the education field truly lacks is not a film glorifying 'loving teachers,' but a system that allows teachers the courage to teach, manage, and counsel. Instead of spending money to make films, they argued that abolishing school affairs committees and resolving the issue of frivolous lawsuits in schools is what a '100-point Ministry of Education should look like.' High-level officials out of touch with reality...