■ Education
Mandatory learning extended
The country's nine-year compulsory education will be extended by one year to include kindergarten, Minister of Education Huang Jong-tsun (黃榮村) said yesterday. The minister said the extension will first be implemented in the island counties of Kinmen, Lienchiang and Penghu next year before spreading to the rest of the counties in 2005. Vice Minister of Education Wu Tie-hsiung (吳鐵雄), who has been given charge of implementing the policy, said that in the three island counties, there are 1,800 children who will benefit. The ministry is trying to find the funds to finance the extra year of tuition, which is about NT$5,000 per student for public kindergartens and NT$12,000 for private kindergartens. The current NT$5,000 education voucher provided to each kindergarten student will be eliminated under the new program. The ministry will also help the country's kindergartens in improving their facilities and the quality of their teaching staff, Wu said.
■ Language
Yu stresses translation
In a drive to boost Taiwan's ability to take part in international activities, major policies crafted by government agencies should be written in both Chinese and English, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday. Yu said policies of major concern, such as those on financial reform and national defense, as well as government signs related to the public's daily life, should be presented and explained in the two languages. But not all government documents should be required to be written in Chinese and English, Yu said, stressing that only major and professional policies need to be put forward in this way. The premier also said that government agencies should make their own translations instead of the Executive Yuan.
■ Society
Chen praises police
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) commended the country's police force for the wide range of duties they perform and for always being available when the public needs them. Chen expressed his respect for police officers, recognizing the demanding nature of their job and the long hours they put in to serve the people. He noted that their work includes sacrifices such as working on holidays and expressed empathy for the fact that their busy jobs affect their ability to perform their roles as sons, fathers or husbands. He also expressed his apologies to the families of police officers for the sacrifices the officers have had to make in carrying out their duties.
■ DIPLOMACY
Slutz off to Mongolia
American Institute in Taiwan deputy director Pamela Slutz has been named the next US ambassador to Mongolia. President George W. Bush made the announcement in Washington on Friday. Slutz has been AIT's number-two person since September 2001. She served as acting AIT director for several months after Bush named the former AIT director, Raymond Burghardt, to become the US Ambassador to Vietnam in September 2001. A career member of the US Senior Foreign Service, Slutz served as a political officer in Jakarta, and before that served as an official with the State Department's Bureau of East Asian Affairs and office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs.
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