A random inspection of standard contracts of after-school care centers in the six special municipalities showed that 45.3 percent failed to meet legal requirements, the Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Committee said yesterday.
The committee said it examined 163 centers’ contracts to ascertain whether they comply with mandatory and prohibitory provisions given by the Ministry of Education, adding that the most common problems found were policies governing late pick-ups.
Among the 74 centers that failed the inspection, 69 had problematic pick-up policies, such as failing to include times for how late notice can be given for a delayed pick-up, what additional fees are to be charged for a late pick-up, the charges being too low, among others problems.
The committee said that compensation for parents if centers fail to pick-up children on time should be no less than NT$120 per hour.
The committee said if the late pick-up is extended for too long, children could be exposed to hidden dangers. It said it has asked centers to modify their policies to conform to mandatory standards.
Six of the most problematic centers are in Taichung, including one that had seven problematic provisions in its contract, the committee said.
Centers face fines of between NT$30,000 and NT$300,000 if they fail to modify their contracts within a given period, and if they still fail inspections thereafter, fines of between NT$50,000 and NT$500,000 can be issued, the committee said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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