The Cabinet yesterday approved a bill to create a pensions saving system for private school teachers and other staff that would significantly increase their retirement pay.
The Ministry of Education, in charge of drawing up the bill, said the system would see an increase of up to NT$2.55 million (US$73,936) to the lump-sum retirement pension for a college teacher who has reached the highest salary bracket and whose length of service is 30 years or more.
If the bill clears the legislature, staff at senior high school level and below in the highest salary bracket would receive an additional NT$2.1 million in their lump-sum retirement pension.
Minister of Education Cheng Jei-cheng (鄭瑞城) said the bill would benefit 63,000 teachers and staff in 357 schools nationwide.
Currently their retirement pensions are covered by the government’s budget.
Under the new system, 35 percent of the pension would come from the monthly salaries of teachers and staff, 26 percent from tuition fees, while local government and the individual schools would each contribute 19.5 percent.
“There is only NT$10.2 billion remaining in the government fund for these retirement pensions and the hidden debt of the fund is about NT$40 billion. The new system will not only stabilize funding sources for the pensions, it will also help private schools recruit excellent teachers,” Cheng told a press conference held after the Cabinet’s weekly meeting.
The Cabinet also approved an amendment to the Organic Act of the Presidential Office (總統府組織法), which entitles the Presidential Office to establish statutory commissions or task forces.
The amendment also set an upper limit of 30 senior presidential advisors and 90 presidential national policy advisors, all positions without remuneration, replacing the current regulations, which set an upper limit of 15 paid senior presidential advisors and 30 paid national policy advisors.
An amendment to the Act of Military Service for Volunteer Enlisted Men (志願士兵服役條例) was also approved, which states that the Ministry of National Defense shall not reject requests for jobs and forfeit salaries to be retained when they are filed by female soldiers who are raising children under the age of three.
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