Just because of this worsening problem, the Ministry of Education two years ago launched a program, long in the making, called Diamonds in the Rough, mobilizing more than 3,000 guidance counselors at more than 600 junior high schools all over the Taiwan area. Initial results are now apparent, and review and improvements are under way.

Effective individual counseling: "The basic idea of Diamonds in the Rough was originally to provide guidance to students who had graduated from junior high school but had not yet found a job," says Tu Chung-chin, a section chief in the Social Education Department of the Ministry of Education. "After implementing it for a year, we found that the program is indeed quite effective, but we felt that providing help to kids that have already graduated is always a bit too late in the game. As a result, starting this year, the program has been extended to include ninth-graders who intend to find a job after graduation and dropouts."

Last year, Diamonds in the Rough helped 10,000 graduates of junior high schools all over the province, each through individual guidance. The guidance counselor--usually the child's ninth grade counselor--regularly telephones them each week and visits their homes or the places they study or work, listening to their heartfelt concerns, correcting their thinking and giving them information on finding jobs or continuing their schooling.

How long does counseling have to go on before a case is considered closed? Chen Mei-chih, a guidance director at Taipei's Hoping Junior High School, says the best thing, of course, is if they can go on to senior high school, vocational school or a five-year college; otherwise, if they remain six months in a steady job, one semester in an extended education class or four months at a cram school, they are considered "settled down" and their cases closed.

Of the 10,000 students in the program last year, more than 90 percent of the cases were closed after one year of guidance. "As you can see, very few students remain idle for a long period. If they're given a little more time, they can a find a niche for themselves," Chen says.

A broad range of activities: In the group guidance portion of the program, begun this year and aimed at students still in ninth grade, there are a diverse range of activities, including job workshops, occupational field trips, mock courtrooms, substance abuse seminars, sex education courses, career planning and guidance. . . .

"In fact, these guidance courses are given throughout junior high. What Diamonds in the Rough does is make sure that certain students are specially aware of them," says Tai Kuei-hsiu, a guidance director at Taipei's Hsihu Junior High School. As for the problem of "unmarried moms" and "little dads," many teenagers who taste the forbidden fruit simply have no concept of contraception, not to mention any sense of responsibility for raising a child. Even if their behavior can't be stopped, they can at least be taught some practical knowledge to help prevent the occurrence of tragedies.

Mock courtrooms are another key activity. "Theft is the number-one crime among juvenile offenders, but many children just don't realize the seriousness of walking off with something that isn't theirs," a guidance counselor says. Some students swipe a motorcycle, call over their friends for a joy ride, and the result is that they all become involved as accomplices, which really seems unfair. Mock courtrooms, which use the methods of role-playing and discussion to instill an awareness of the law, are particularly helpful in this regard.

Since the group guidance program is mainly targeted at ninth-graders who plan to work after graduation, its core is naturally vocational training. "In addition to small-group vocational seminars, where we invite entrepreneurs or skilled laborers to come and talk about what they do, such as a hair stylist from Mentor Hair Styling Studio to talk to the girls or a chef at the Hilton to talk to the boys, during the second semester we take groups on onsite factory tours, like a trip to the kilns in Yingko or an electronics plant, a paper mill or a tile factory in Tamsui," Ms. Tsai indicates.

In-depth knowledge hard to acquire: How effective are these career information activities? The head of personnel in a factory regularly visited by students in the program says it's a question of "man proposes, but God disposes." On the one hand, kids these days hate work and don't have much interest in visiting a factory to begin with. Then it's bound to be noisy and messy inside, and many of them will blurt right out: "I'm sure never going to work in a place like this!" Furthermore, the technology they see isn't taught in class and they haven't received a "preview" of the production process beforehand, so many children come out after a cursory half-hour visit knowing as little as they did before.

On the other hand, even though a number of children may sign up thinking "it'll be more fun to go on a trip than to sit around like a dummy in school," quite a few boys become interested and get a lot out of it. "I came to size up their machinery and equipment," says one boy, who has long intended to take the entrance exam for a vocational high school.

"In fact, for the benefit of many students who don't like to study and really can't go on to high school, there's a need to implement vocational education at an earlier stage in junior high school," says Peng Huo-yen, vice director of the Department of Technical and Vocational Education in the Ministry of Education. The trouble is, many students clearly don't like to study and realize they can't get into a good school but still cling to the idea of "why not take the exam and see," so every time there's a survey only a minuscule few say they intend to enter the work force (which requires parental approval).

For instance, only ten out of the 270 students in the ninth grade remedial classes at Hoping Junior High say they want to join the workforce after graduation. And each of them has different inclinations and ambitions, which precludes group training.

Vocational classes have their limitations: Under the current method, vocational training classes are spread around at different schools. In Taipei, for instance, there are more than twenty: a class in printing at Tachih, a class in cosmetics and hair styling at Fangho, a class in interior decorating at Chengyuan and so forth. Students from other schools who wish to take part in a class can do so two afternoons a week, during ninth grade only.

This method naturally has its limitations: Long distances, inconvenient transportation or fear of being bullied at another school will all affect a child's willingness to receive training. "But considering the teachers and the equipment available--each class requires at least two specialized teachers and setting up an electronics class from scratch takes millions of NT for the equipment alone--there is really no way to expand the program at present," says Peng Huo-yen, pointing out where the obstacles lie.

The difficulty of the standardized curriculum and the inadequacies in vocational education may be the main reasons that certain children fall through the cracks of going on to higher schooling or finding a job. But a careful analysis of teenagers in the Diamonds in the Rough program reveals some other, more discouraging common features.

"To put it bluntly, these kids have a low desire to learn"--that is a feeling shared by many guidance counselors. Actually, their so-called low desire to learn doesn't mean they are inferior in ability or that they don't have other talents. "There's no lack of kids in the program who have won prizes in provincial and municipal talent or athletic competitions," Chen Mei-chih points out. It's just that in the world of today, where getting into a good school is the be-all and end-all of education, their talents often go unappreciated, and when they find themselves placed in a long-term situation of "no accomplishments," it's little wonder they raise a silent protest by refusing to study or learn a craft.

Parents set an example: Next, even though there are no hard statistics to go by, it's an indisputable fact that most of these children come from the lower class and lower middle class.

"A lot of parents are busy all day trying to earn a living. If the school wants to hold a parent-teacher meeting or make a family visit, they all say, "Sorry, I just don't have the time!" one guidance counselor sighs. He telephones them at ten or eleven at night and they still haven't come home. "I often think that Sun Yueh's public service message should be changed from 'It's late at night. Do you know where your children are?' to 'It's late at night. Do your children know where you are?'"

"Children are a reflection of their parents. You can't conceal it," another guidance counsellor sighs. Some parents, for instance, are layabouts themselves, with no ambitions or achievements, and the children naturally follow suit. Others yell and squabble all day. If children are steeped in anxiety, fear and hate, how can they be expected to care about their education or their future?

Also, some parents obstinately insist on their children passing the high school entrance exams. The guidance counselor may have finally managed to find a decent job and persuaded the child to stick with it, but the parents scorn it as worthless, and the child falls back into aimlessly drifting between school and employment.

They need more care: Of course, these children wouldn't need extra guidance if they didn't have problems. Every teacher is aware that very few children are able to make decisions of their own about their course in life. Assailed from every direction--their natural talents, family environment, educational level, social status and so forth--children who didn't have a very firm grasp on the tiller to begin with may easily wind up shaken and at a loss.

"Whenever I encounter a kid who makes slow progress, resists guidance or even avoids contact and disappears, all I can do is console myself that maybe the right time hasn't arrived yet," one teacher says. "I just hope they don't go astray. The rest only needs more time!" "That's right," another teacher chimes in. "Sometimes you have to look a little farther down the road. There's a saying that goes, 'You leave your mark wherever you go.' That's all we can hope for."

[Picture Caption]

"Every child is a diamond in the rough. They may seem crude and unpolished, but they shouldn't be cast aside." That is a common belief shared by the guidance counselors in the Diamonds in the Rough program.

Students are taken on a visit of a pottery workshop in Yingko in the hope that they can learn more about various trades and occupations and discover their own interests and potentials.

Ninth graders are full of hope and energy but unformed and malleable. To see them safely on the right track requires greater care and concern from families, schools and society as a whole.

Students are taken on a visit of a pottery workshop in Yingko in the hope that they can learn more about various trades and occupations and discover their own interests and potentials.

Ninth graders are full of hope and energy but unformed and malleable. To see them safely on the right track requires greater care and concern from families, schools and society as a whole.