Taipei, February 17 (CNA) The Ministry of Education (MOE) will begin testing measures in March that will allow Taiwanese high schools to give students days off to address mental health issues.
Establishing a mental health day could help students, especially those experiencing burnout at school, become more aware of their emotional state, the Ministry of the Environment said.
As of Friday, a total of 40 schools across Taiwan had expressed interest in trying the measure, the Ministry of Environment said in a news release.
According to the ministry, up to three days of “mental and physical conditioning leave” can be taken per semester, and students can choose to take a half-day or full-day vacation, but it does not apply to academic evaluations or exam periods. .
Since most high school and vocational school students are still minors, they will need to present proof of consent from a parent or guardian to apply for this mental health leave.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, the system may be officially implemented at high schools and vocational schools as early as August next year, based on feedback from schools that have tried it out.
National Taiwan University and 42 other universities in Taiwan have already introduced mental health days, which students are allowed to take up to five times per semester.
In response to this precedent, the Taiwan Democratic Youth Association (TYAD) has launched a petition asking the Ministry of the Environment to expand the introduction of mental health leave for high schools and middle schools.
On Friday, TYAD announced it had received more than 3,000 signatures in one day.
In response to the petition, the Ministry of the Environment told CNA that it is developing plans to introduce mental health leave in secondary schools in 2022 and that it consulted local authorities on the issue in May 2023.
The ministry also recently released official guidelines for schools offering leave to students based on their mental health, calling on schools to not discriminate against students who request mental health leave and provide them with the necessary support.
