The Taipei City Government said yesterday it would offer 4,200 places at municipal schools to allow students in disaster areas to continue their studies in the city until they are able to return home.
More than 300 schools in central and southern Taiwan were damaged or completely destroyed by Typhoon Morakot. To help students in the hard-hit regions, Taipei City’s Department of Education said it had asked the city’s public schools to offer between 10 and 20 places each to those in need to continue their education.
Department commissioner Wu Ching-shan (吳清山) said elementary schools would offer 20 spots each, while public kindergartens, junior high schools, senior high schools and vocational schools would offer 10 places each.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the city government would open more places to students from disaster areas if necessary. The department will cover these students’ tuition and help them find homestay families, he said.
“These students are victims of the disaster, and we will try our best to take care of their needs during the time they are studying here,” Hau told reporters at Taipei City Hall.
Wu said the department would set up a special team to handle the details of the program. Students who are qualified to study at municipal schools will be able to start school when the fall semester commences.
To support rescue and relief missions in the hard-hit regions of southern Taiwan, the city government has also established a command center to oversee the city’s operations in central and southern municipalities.
Hau also donated blood at the city hall’s blood donation center yesterday and called on civil workers and residents to join him in supporting the rescue and relief work.
“Medical missions in the disaster areas are in need of blood. It is important that what we offer is what they need,” he said.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
RSS