■ Society
Chen greets delegates
Taiwan has ensured the rights of children and adolescents by ensconcing them in new laws, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday as he received 90 children from 18 countries taking part in a summit promoting children's human rights. Chen praised the summit's theme, "Children help Children," saying the spirit is similar to his belief that stressing human rights is one of the foundations of Taiwan. Chen said Taiwan passed the Child and Juvenile Welfare Law (兒童及少年福利法) in May 2003. "The new law stipulates that any child or adolescent is eligible for the rights, rather than just being an individual subject to protection. The change demonstrates that the rights of children and adolescents have gradually become valued in Taiwan," Chen said.
■ Society
MOI sets citizenship test
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday unveiled the criteria to measure the language ability and civics knowledge of foreigners seeking citizenship. Applicants will be able to either present documents proving their qualifications or take tests to be held every January, April, July and November, starting next year. The documents submitted by the applicants should prove that they have studied in a school in Taiwan for at least one year or have taken a course provided by the government for naturalization applicants, the officials said. Foreigners who do not want to take the course can take a written test or an oral test in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka or Aboriginal languages. Applicants will need to answer 20 test questions selected from a database of 200 questions. Applicants aged 65 or over will need to get at least 50 percent on the test, while spouses and foster children of citizens have to get at least 60 percent and other foreigners have to get 70 percent. Sample questions include: What kind of taxes are collected by the local government? What is the minimum age to raise a pet?
■ Education
Fewer students drop out
A total of 8,168 middle and elementary school students quit school in the last academic year, a decrease of 437 people compared with the previous year, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics reported yesterday. The report, based on statistics from the Ministry of Education, said the main reason for dropping out was dislike of studying in school, with 39.6 percent of dropouts quitting school because of "personal preference." Some 30.3 percent of the dropouts were forced to leave school due to family problems, the agency said. In terms of family background, 46.5 percent of the dropouts were from single-parent families, while 2.3 percent dropped out after suffering the loss of their parents.
■ Education
Nursing school inks pact
The National Taipei College of Nursing (NTCN) signed a deal yesterday with the International Cooperation and Development Fund to assist in training volunteer caretakers assigned to work in foreign countries. A two-day conference organized by the two institutions also began yesterday, with talks on health-care policy, care of cancer patients, preventive medicine, international relief efforts and midwife training. Participants included officials and academics from Kiribati, Malawi, Swaziland and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, college officials said. They hope the conference will encourage more Taiwanese health-care institutions and professionals to join in international health-care systems.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner