Over ten years after the implementation of the Teacher’s Law: watching and expecting

Abstract

It has been over ten years since the Teacher s Law took effect on January 1, 1994, and its promulgation and implementation have somewhat helped in protecting teachers  legal rights and interests. Undeniably, however, the Teacher s Law is defective in many aspects, such as the absence of teachers' legal identity, its failure to safeguard a teacher s essential interests and rights, serious laggardness of the teacher s appointment system and obstacles to dealing with teachers  complaints and litigations. All such defectiveness make the legislative purpose to safeguard the teacher s legal rights and interests  in Article 1 of the Teacher s Law less effective in practice. Therefore, in order to judicially assist teachers in safeguarding their own legal rights and interests, it is necessary to modify the Teacher s Law and especially give priorities to: (1) defining the identity of the state staff member for teachers; (2) treating teachers owed to in arrears as peasant-workers, and paying and remunerating them punctually (3) formulating detailed measures on the implementation of the teacher's appointment system as soon as possible, solving problems of unemployment of teachers arising from the inequality between the teacher s rights, the school s power and the absence of the teacher s identity; (4) establishing a lawsuit system connected with teachers  complaints and personnel arbitration.