大學學業退學制度的批判與反思

Abstract

釋字563號揭示退學制度屬大學自治，惟退學侵害學生基本權甚鉅，大法官因此要求其內容應「合理妥適」、制定及執行須符合「正當法律程序」。本文以「合理妥適」作為檢視現行學業退學制度之一貫標準。在此大學自治內部界限的要求下，本文以國立臺灣大學、國立政治大學及國立清華大學學則作為檢證標的，認為學業退學制度有違此內部界限，規範性分析上存有疑慮。就合理性而言，該制度設計在理論上亦有諸多缺失。在實務運作上，雖然大學之學業退學規定日益寬鬆，但此舉並無助於學習品質的提升，依然是對成績不佳遭退學學生的不當壓迫。而此制度之持續存在，係由若干迷思所導致。基於本文立論，現行學業退學制度並非「合理妥適」，應予廢除。本文並對於取代學業退學制度的積極措施提出建議。

Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 563 has made clear that the policies of academic dismissal from university are within the rights of university autonomy. However, as such policies do violate students’ right to education, the Constitutional Court requires these policies be ‘reasonable and appropriate’ and their making and implementation follow ‘due process of law’. Based on these requirements, this paper examines the rules of academic dismissal implemented by three of the top universities in Taiwan, namely, National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, and National Tsing Hua University, and demonstrates that, due to the logical flaws in their basic design and assumptions, these rules are far from being ‘reasonable or appropriate’, and are therefore likely to be judged as problematic in court. We further argue that the enforcement of these rules, which have been made less and less stringent in recent years, not only fails to serve the purpose of upholding the standard of student academic performance, but also constitutes a form of maltreatment and persecution of disadvantaged students. We then discuss the misguided values and beliefs underlying such policies. This paper thus concludes that the current policies should be abolished and replaced with more constructive measures.