The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced yesterday it will launch a hotline and update its student resource Web site to provide better services for students who are in need of financial assistance.
The Scholarships and Financial Aid Resource Website For Youth, which was launched in February, compiles information about scholarships and financial assistance provided by government agencies, schools, hundreds of foundations and businesses and private individuals.
The Web site is designed to provide detailed information scholarships so that needy students in high schools, colleges and universities, and graduate schools can learn about opportunities to lift their financial burden. The total amount of money offered by all scholarships and financial aid programs combined is NT$17 billion (US$532 million).
The MOE said it hopes that more students will take advantage of the new hotline to learn more about scholarships and financial aid. The toll-free hotline is 0800-081-082 and will operate during the summer through Aug. 31.
Facing growing complaints from the public that college tuition costs are becoming unreasonably high, the ministry has been trying to give opportunities to students and underscore its efforts to assists them.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the 2005 National Colleges, Universities and Graduate Schools Expo at National Taiwan University last weekend, President Chen Shui-bian (
With the number of colleges and universities having increased rapidly, the overall investment in higher education, including government appropriation and funds raised by individual colleges and universities, has also shown dramatic growth, Chen said.
The investment was NT$177 billion (US$5.619 billion) in 2001, but has increased to NT$207.8 billion, or an increase of 17 percent last year, according to MOE.
Besides the financial investment to help the next generation to reduce students' financial burden, the MOE also launched "The Last Mile" program starting last year to provide more practical courses for vocational school students.
According to Chang Guo-bao (
For more information on the resource hotline, visit the ministry's Scholarships and Financial Aid Resource Web site at: http://scholarship.stut.edu.tw.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all