Deputy education minister embroiled in NTU student identity row resigns

Taipei, Aug. 22 (CNA) Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) resigned on Friday over an incident in which he made the identity of a National Taiwan University (NTU) student complaining of sexual harassment on campus public.

In a statement released through the Ministry of Education, Yeh said he felt guilt-ridden for stirring up the issues over the past three months, adding that he takes the responsibility for creating distractions from the ministry's work.

"I feel very sorry about the incident's impact on society and [my] work. I will learn from this and be more cautious about how I conduct myself. Thank you," Yeh said in the statement issued the same day a gender equity education committee found he acted within the law.

Yeh was referred to the gender equity education committee under the ministry in May over his remarks made in a social media post on April 21, in which he failed to properly conceal the identity of the NTU student who accused a dorm clerk of sexual harassment.

Yeh only apologized and deleted the post on May 21, after the student called him out again online.

The ministry put Yeh on leave pending a review.

On Friday, a committee consisting of external experts cleared Yeh, an NTU professor himself, of exercising undue influence in his efforts to reach the student, because he was not involved in the sexual harassment investigation.

However, the committee said that it is not within its purview to pass judgment on his failure to protect the identity of the student, and called for further investigations into this potential breach of personal data protection and Yeh's conduct as a government official, the ministry said.

The committee also found that NTU failed to protect the student after the sexual harassment claims were dismissed, especially since the dorm clerk had been indicted by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office for suspected violations of the Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act.

NTU needs to suspend the dorm clerk to protect the student from being contacted before the legal proceedings are completed, the committee concluded, noting that the ongoing appeal filed by the student over the university's dismissal of the sexual harassment complaints has reached the Taipei High Administrative Court.

The ministry said it will follow how the committee's conclusions are implemented and cooperate with the authorities if the student seeks legal remedy for the leak of identity.

Meanwhile, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in a separate statement that he respected Yeh's decision to resign, while noting his passion for education and work on policies of nurturing talent in artificial intelligence and revamping the vocational school system since taking up the deputy minister post in May 2024.