The Ministry of Education said it has raised the monthly salary paid to college students doing part-time jobs at designated non-profit organizations by NT$2,550.
The salaries paid to students working part-time at 273 organizations, including social welfare and environmental protection organizations, have been raised from NT$20,100 to NT$22,650, Youth Development Administration Director-General Lo Ching-shui (羅清水) said.
Students who work at the organizations next summer will earn NT$33,975 during a 45-day program initiated by the ministry to offer college students part-time job opportunities, with the ministry paying for the wages, Lo said.
Students who participated in the program were paid the minimum wage, which prompted some people to accuse the government of pushing down wages, Lo said.
Low salaries is a high-profile social issue that the ministry hopes to take the lead in ameliorating, he added.
About 500 students worked part-time at the organizations designated by the ministry last summer, and the ministry hopes to increase the number of job opportunities to 600 next year, he said.
The ministry is considering paying wages to student interns working at government agencies at all levels next year, he said.
College students can sign up for internship programs at central government agencies in three stages each lasting two months, he said, adding that 376 students have participated in the program so far this year.
The ministry will confer with central government agencies regarding the work shifts to be taken by students and with local government agencies on the wages they can offer, he said.
The ministry has yet to decide whether to pay students who participate in internship programs as a course requirement, he said.
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