The Private School Act (私立學校法) should be amended to improve regulations of boards of directors at private high schools and universities, the National Federation of Teachers Union and the Taiwan Higher Education Union said yesterday.
Federation policy director Lo Te-shui (羅德水) told a news conference that the issue of private school board directors claiming school assets and inappropriately making deductions from teachers’ salaries has been rampant for years.
Citing Ministry of Education statistics, Lo said 46 percent of high-school students and 74 percent of university students enroll at private institutes, indicating that private schools deal with a high level of public interest and that they from the backbone of the nation’s education system.
He said that private high schools and universities receive large subsidies from the ministry, with private universities receiving more than NT$20 billion (US$615 million) in annual subsidies for general school affairs alone.
“Being granted such large sums of subsidies every year, there is no reason they should not be monitored,” Lo said.
The two unions have submitted their versions of the draft amendments for the Democratic Progressive Party’s reference, he said, adding that the groups would make public a list of lawmakers who are in support of the bill and take action against those who block the amendment.
Federation vice secretary-general Chao Yung-fu (趙永富) said legislators should push for an amendment who would lower the percentage of directors that are within the third consanguinity of one another from one-third to one-fifth the total number of board members, to halt the trend of boards of directors being operated as “family businesses,” which often gives rise to embezzlement of school assets.
Yu Jung-hui (尤榮輝), another federation vice secretary-general, said reform of the act had been slow, because the ministry views private schools as enterprises and has refrained from intervening in their operations.
Many retired ministry officials have become board members at private schools, and the boards where former officials serve often encounter less trouble when requesting subsidies, Yu said.
“The collusion between the public and private sectors is obvious,” he said.
Taiwan Higher Education Union secretary-general Chen Cheng-liang (陳政亮) said the act should be amended to include provisions that would mandate private school boards to assign third-party directors and supervisors to safeguard teachers’ and students’ interests.
With reference to schools that file bankruptcy, ostensibly due to falling recruitment numbers stemming from low birth rates, Chen said many directors closed down schools as a means to embezzle.
The act should be changed to bar directors from withdrawing school funds — an authorization granted to directors after a 2008 amendment — and that a loophole allowing directors to change board policies to allow schools funds to be moved into their pockets must be closed.
The ministry and local education agencies should enforce their authority to disband any boards of directors put on their watchlist that are deemed unfit to run a school, Chen 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
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost