The nation's economic slowdown and rising unemployment rate have apparently spurred a 38 percent increase in the number of young people applying to become professional servicemen this year, the personnel recruitment center under the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday.
Attractive salary packages are one of the main factors behind the rapid increase in the number of youths intent on becoming servicemen, said Colonel Chiu Chao-li (邱肇理), deputy director of the recruitment center.
"The starting salary for a corporal is NT$33,000 per month, while that for a second lieutenant is NT$41,000 a month," Chiu said.
"These salaries are much higher than those for equivalent positions in the civilian sector."
"The number of senior high school graduates who have registered for an examination for speciality officers' positions is 11,877, or 38.33 percent more than last year," Chiu said.
Every March the military accepts applications for service.
Specialty officers are officers who serve a shorter term than career officers and who train for two years to become eligible for service. They start their service with the rank of second lieutenant.
These servicemen form one of the main sources of officers for the military.
The military also depends on other sources, including military academies and college graduates who serve as reserve officers during their 20-month compulsory service.
"The figure for junior high school graduates who have applied for non-commissioned of-ficers' [NCO] qualifications is 8,252, up 51.10 percent over last year," he said.
Examinees who have passed the NCO examination have to train for three years before they can begin their service, at the rank of corporal.
"It is expected that the competition among examinees in these two categories will be very intense," Chiu said.
"In the category of specialty officers, eight examinees will fight for every position, while in the category of NCOs, three examinees will fight for every position."
Chiu made the remarks yesterday at a regular MND press conference, as he gave a briefing on personnel recruitment for the three services this year.
"Since the establishment of the personnel recruitment center three years ago, the last two years have seen a rapid growth in the number of applications for entering military service," Chiu said.
While Taiwan's unemployment rate is at an all time high of 3.73 percent, Chiu did not want to attribute the increase in applications entirely to the economy.
"The economic downturn and high unemployment rate are just two of the factors contributing to the increase in the number of young people interested in becoming servicemen," Chiu said.
"I think the main reason should be the series of reforms Chief of the General Staff General Tang Yao-ming (
"The reforms include the life-long learning program now enforced across the services.
"Due to Tang's efforts, the military now offers a good environment for young people to develop their careers," he added.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary