A dispute over educational equipment played out at the Miaoli County Council, where teachers at Tongxiao Junior High School have been forced to work with "heritage-relic-grade" dilapidated cabinets, prompting the county magistrate to pledge on the spot to replace them right away.

• Councillor Chen Pin-an produced photographs pointing out that the equipment in Tongxiao Junior High School's staff office is old and worn, with cabinets jammed shut and unable to be opened, leaving teachers to cobble together conference tables to work at.
• She said she had raised the issue with the Education Department many times, but had only received the reply that "each school is carrying out painting works," questioning why they were willing to do painting but not to replace office equipment.
• County Magistrate Chung Tung-chin responded that if a school has a problem it should proactively report it, otherwise the Education Department has no way of knowing, and he promised that once a report is filed the items would be "replaced right away."

• During the exchange, Chung Tung-chin criticised the subsidies the Ministry of Education gives Miaoli as "laughable," drawing a retort from Chen Pin-an, who stressed that this was something the county government should be doing and should not be dragged onto the central government.

Outlook: The Education Department has already promised to send personnel to the school to assess the situation, and if there is a genuine need it will file for replacement as soon as possible; whether this is followed through and how it plays into election-year political sparring remain key points to watch.