Tighter regulation and moves toward nationalization — not tuition hikes — are the answers to falling student numbers pushing many universities toward the fiscal brink, activists said yesterday, adding that tuition hikes would only further disadvantage poorer students, who are already often forced to pay more for less.
“Disadvantaged students are being forced to pay more for inferior education because of our failure to establish a system to weed out universities,” said Taiwan Alliance for the Advancement of Youth Rights and Welfare secretary-general Yeh Da-hua (葉大華), flanked by several national legislators from across the political spectrum.
Yeh condemned the Ministry of Education’s plans to address the fiscal crisis by allowing private schools to increase tuition fees while extending the time frame for students to pay off loans, saying that disadvantaged students at private schools are already charged several times the tuition fee of better-off students who are able to gain entrance into the nation’s relatively elite public universities.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“The commercialization of education and unequal distribution of resources have created a situation where education actually drags down social mobility rather than helping students escape poverty,” she said.
She added that students attending private schools often incur substantial debts for an inferior education.
“The ministry should take more proactive measures than just allowing the rescheduling of debts, because the real issue is how much debt students are forced to incur,” Yeh said, attributing the poor quality and high cost of private institutions to lax regulation, which she said allowed schools to fabricate costs to get around fee restrictions.
While the ministry caps tuition and fees, some schools use loopholes to hit students with additional charges, she said, calling for the ministry to establish a rigorous review system.
National Association for the Promotion of Community Colleges director Hsieh Kuo-ching (謝國清) said that private high schools should also be subject to higher quality standards because of the government subsidies they have received following the elimination of high-school tuition fees.
“If you are going to subsidize, you also have to manage, including costs and quality,” he said, adding that the government should implement quality control measures similar to those in place for private kindergartens, which also receive extensive government subsidies.
Chan Cheng-tao (詹政道), the director of the National Federation of Teachers Unions’ social development department, said that moves toward nationalization should also include a requirement for private schools’ governing boards to include public welfare and labor representatives to allow greater civic participation in the determination of school fees.
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
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