Two Taipei City councilors yesterday challenged the city government’s electronic student card program, calling for a policy evaluation after parents expressed concern about children wasting money using the student card, which also functions as an electronic wallet.
“E-student” cards, which have been issued to about 390,000 students at 240 municipal elementary, middle and senior-high schools in Taipei, combine traditional student cards with EasyCards, allowing them to be used concurrently as a student identification card, library card and public transit card.
The e-student card was introduced to notify parents of their children’s whereabouts by sending a text message to the parents’ cellphone when students swipe the cards upon arrival at and departure from schools.
Last year, however, EasyCard Corp introduced a new function that allows the card to act as an “e-wallet” and store up to NT$10,000 in value. Since then, many parents have expressed concern that their children might be using the cards to make unnecessary purchases, Taipei City councilors Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) of the Democratic Progressive Party and Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) of the Taiwan Solidarity Union said at a press conference.
“The e-student cards have become a headache for many parents especially after the cards became e-wallets. It’s easier for students to buy snacks, drinks or even tobacco at convenience stores using the cards,” Chen said.
Chien further challenged the usage rate of e-student cards in schools. She said many schools were forced to adopt the program to promote the policy that was initiated in 2006 by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) when he served as Taipei mayor, but have stopped the program because of complaints from parents.
EasyCard Corp assistant manager Wang Chia-ling (王嘉陵) said the company would introduce an updated version of the e-student card by the end of this year that allows users to decide whether to use the e-wallet function.
Asked to review the program, Taipei City’s Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Tseng Tsan-chin (曾燦金) said the e-student card was still a convenience for students, but the department would work with EasyCard Corp to address the parents’ concerns.
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