By KHT Staff. AI illustration image.
KAOHSIUNG — A Kaohsiung elementary school teacher died after falling from a school building earlier this week, prompting city officials to pledge reforms aimed at reducing pressure on teachers and improving support inside schools.
Local media reported that the teacher, a man surnamed Yen (嚴) in his late 50s, died on May 25 after returning to campus while on long-term leave. The school and education authorities later activated counseling and support mechanisms for students, parents, and teachers affected by the incident.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) visited the teacher’s family on May 28 and said the city was saddened by the loss of an “outstanding education partner.” He asked the public to give the family space and said the city had discussed follow-up measures with teachers’ groups.
The Kaohsiung City Teachers’ Association (高雄市教師職業工會) on May 29 forwarded a seven-point statement from the school’s fifth-grade director responding to online rumors about Yen’s death.
The statement said Yen had been on medical leave from March 11 to June 11 for severe physical and mental stress, supported by a medical certificate. It acknowledged that the fifth-grade cohort had presented serious classroom-management challenges, with several teachers seeking medical care, but said Yen had not described the situation as bullying.
The school said counseling support had been activated, and evidence of online doxxing targeting students and staff had been sent to police.
Mayor Chen said the Education Bureau would form a teacher support advisory committee and focus on three areas: strengthening the teacher support system, reforming school-affairs meetings, and improving the handling of teacher-student counseling cases.
The city said it would expand counseling resources for teachers by working with the Health Bureau, increasing subsidized counseling sessions from five to 12 per person. The number of sessions would not limit teachers assessed by professionals as needing further help, officials said.
Chen also said the city would expand contracted counseling institutions, provide funding for stress-management and emotional-support courses in schools, and use the employee assistance program to connect teachers with medical and mental-health resources.
The mayor also said the Education Bureau had been asked to identify problems reported by frontline educators and bring in cross-departmental resources, including psychologists, social workers, and medical institutions.
The city said the Education Bureau and the school moved quickly after the incident to brief parents, arrange counseling by level of exposure, and provide support to teachers, students, and parents. Professional psychologists have also been stationed at the school with help from the Health Bureau and local universities, officials said.
At a city-level meeting on mental health promotion and suicide prevention, experts urged the public and media not to reduce the case to a single cause or spread speculation.
Former Tsao Tun Psychiatric Center director Chen Chun-ying (陳俊鶯) said agencies need enough crisis-response resources and should better understand the circumstances before and after teachers take extended leave or return to work. National Cheng Kung University behavioral medicine professor Kuo Nai-wen (郭乃文) said the priority now should be restoring stability and trust on campus.
People in Taiwan experiencing emotional distress can call the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s 1925 Peace of Mind Line, Lifeline at 1995, or the Teacher Chang Foundation at 1980.
