Taiwan is moving to reshape how schools protect students’ physical and mental well-being after the legislature passed sweeping amendments to the School Health Act, bringing mobile-device use, mental health education, menstrual products and e-cigarettes under a broader campus health framework.
The amendments were passed on August 21, 2026, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, with officials describing the changes as a response to the challenges students face in the digital age and a rapidly changing social environment. The reforms cover seven provisions of the law and are designed to strengthen health protections across Taiwan’s schools.
📱 Phones at School: Taiwan Stops Short of a Blanket Ban
One of the most closely watched changes concerns mobile phones and other potentially addictive devices or behaviors.
Under the amended law, schools may provide guidance, manage or restrict the use of mobile devices and other items or behaviors when they could affect students’ physical or mental health. However, the approach is not a nationwide blanket ban on smartphones. Schools are expected to consider students’ ages, stages of learning and their individual campus circumstances when setting rules.
That distinction is important: the new law gives schools a stronger legal basis to intervene, while leaving room for different approaches depending on the needs of younger children, teenagers and individual schools.
🧠 Mental Health Education Becomes Part of the School Health Mission
Mental health is also being given a more formal place in Taiwan’s education system.
The amendments require health-related courses to include mental health education, helping students better understand emotions, stress and psychological well-being. Education authorities and schools may also recommend teachers receive additional mental health training when needed.
The Ministry of Education said the changes are intended to deepen support for students and strengthen schools’ ability to respond to modern pressures affecting young people’s well-being.
🩸 Free Menstrual Products Get Stronger Legal Backing
In another major change, education authorities will be required to help schools provide menstrual products and promote menstrual education.
TaiwanPlus reported that Taiwan had already introduced a menstrual-product program in 2023, but lawmakers argued that putting the policy into law would strengthen implementation and accountability. The move is aimed at making campuses more menstruation-friendly and ensuring students have access to products when needed.
The Ministry of Education has also said the amendment reflects the goal of creating a more inclusive and supportive school environment.
🚭 Taiwan Tightens the Net on Vaping and New Tobacco Products
Taiwan’s schools are also facing tougher protections against smoking and vaping.
The amended School Health Act expands campus tobacco-prevention measures to explicitly include e-cigarettes and other emerging tobacco or nicotine products at senior high schools and below. Schools are also prohibited from selling tobacco-related products, alcohol, betel nuts and other substances harmful to physical or mental health.
The issue has become increasingly urgent. According to figures cited by Taiwan’s Central News Agency, reports involving students allegedly carrying or using e-cigarettes rose sharply in recent years, with 1,692 cases reported in 2025, compared with 237 in 2023. In the first five months of 2026 alone, authorities recorded 1,050 reports.
That trend helps explain why lawmakers and education authorities are placing greater emphasis on keeping new nicotine products and vaping devices out of schools.
🔊 Hearing Health and a Broader Campus Safety Net
The reforms go beyond the headline-grabbing issues.
The Ministry of Education says the amended law also strengthens hearing-health education and follow-up support, while requiring school health committees to draw on expertise in areas including medicine, public health, nutrition and mental health.
Supplementary resolutions linked to the legislative process also called for continued reviews of how technological developments affect students, alongside improvements in areas such as playground safety, classroom ventilation and air-quality monitoring.
A Bigger Question Behind the New Law
The real story may be bigger than phones, vaping or menstrual products.
Taiwan’s new approach signals a shift toward viewing student health as something shaped by technology, emotional well-being, access to basic necessities and emerging social risks—not just traditional school hygiene.
For parents and students, the practical impact will now depend heavily on how individual schools and education authorities turn the amended law into day-to-day policies.
The rules have changed. The next question is whether Taiwan’s schools are ready to make them work.
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