Principal accused of spending school money on his home

The principal of a Changhua County high school spent millions of taxpayers' NT dollars on luxurious furniture for his residence at the school, a lawmaker said yesterday.

At a meeting of the legislature's Education and Culture Committee yesterday, KMT lawmaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said that the principal of National Hsi-Hu Senior High School, Tai Ming-kuo (戴明國), had spent more than NT$2 million on furniture, including NT$130,000 on a shoe rack.

According to Hung, Tai also spent more than NT$10 million on the construction of the residence, electric appliances, security and jacuzzis.

Despite government's financial problems and many students not being able to pay for school lunches, Hung said, another NT$118,118 was spent on a wardrobe in the school principal's two-storey building, NT$134,976 on an office desk and over NT$79,000 on a bed.

In reply, Minister of Education Huang Jung-tsuen (黃榮村) said that if the alleged costs were correct, it would be "too expensive" and that his own residence wasn't that expensive.

Hung she also suspected that the principal had used funds donated to the school to buy himself a car. During the school's first year of operation, more than NT$1 million had been raised from companies and students' parents, Hung said, and the money was deposited in a bank account under the name of the school's parental committee.

She said the principal then bought a Toyota Camry costing more than NT$1 million in the name of the parental committee.

According to Hung, the prinicipal had been reported for the incident but no action was taken.

Hung she did not know how the Ministry of Education's office in central Taiwan could have approved the expenses, and she said that incompetence or corruption was perhaps to blame for the lack of action.

Minister Huang said he would ask the ministry's Anti-corruption Department to look into the matter and report within one week.