University heads jointly denounce education cuts

Thirteen presidents from national universities nationwide yesterday voiced grave dissatisfaction about proposed cuts in education funding, effective from the 2001-2002 financial year.

They gave their views at a press conference held for the purpose at National Taiwan University (NTU), one day after the cuts were announced by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Friday

NTU President Chen Wei-jao (陳維昭) said, "With President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) often-repeated promises to safeguard the educational budget still ringing in our ears, we regret the decision of the MOE to cut funding to national universities by a significant proportion. The cuts, according to our calculation, will range between 10 and 15 percent in all national universities."

"At NTU, for example, the grant is slated to be cut by NT$600 million, more than 13 percent of the NT$4 billion we are currently allocated. But every year we have to spend NT$4.2 billion on paychecks alone. The funding doesn't even cover our salary bill."

In a news release distributed at the press conference, the presidents stated, "College education is generally considered one of the factors most vital to a country's development. The education budget must not therefore be reduced in order to finance other policy initiatives. We demand that the decision be reversed and that the educational budget be ring-fenced under specific legislation."

Chen noted that while grants for national universities are to be cut, funds assigned to research institutes such as Academia Sinica and the National Science Council are reportedly earmarked for increases of approximately 10 percent.

Wu Jian-kuo (吳建國), President of National Taiwan Ocean University, presented a list of educational funds spent for each university student per year in foreign countries.

According to Wu, NT$1.5 million was spent on each university student in Japan in 1997 and Hong Kong invested NT$920,000 per student in 1996.

"In Taiwan, the MOE subsidized each college student to the tune of NT$200,000 in 1991, the amount plummeting to NT$160,000 in 1998. On the basis of the MOE's proposals, per capita financial aid will be reduced to NT$140,000," Wu said.

Wu, along with National Central University President Liu Chao-han (劉兆漢), and acting president of National Yang Ming University, Wu Yen-hua (吳妍華), told the media that the proposed cuts would cause severe difficulties for salary payments. "We are not even sure whether our schools are sufficiently financially solvent to pay our staff, not to mention the likely impacts on the quality of teaching and research," they said.

National Chengchi University President Cheng Ting-wong (鄭丁旺) called on the government to appreciate that a large population should not necessarily be regarded as a burden to the country; it could be regarded as an asset, as long as people were educated properly.