The legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee is tomorrow to begin reviewing proposed pension reforms for public-school teachers.
The issues to be addressed include the age at which retired elementary and junior-high school teachers start receiving pensions and whether retired teachers working in part-time jobs should forfeit their pensions.
The National Federation of Teachers’ Unions has been lobbying legislative caucuses to lower the age at which retired teachers can receive pensions to 55. The Pension Reform Committee advocates a minimum age of 60.
In the past, teachers began their careers in their early 20s, but teachers now mostly start work aged 27 or 28, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Li-feng (李麗芬) said.
According to the existing pension system, public-school teachers must either work 30 years or reach 60 following 25 years of service before they are allowed to retire, which means that most teachers would now be nearing 60 when they retire, she said.
Although some parents are concerned that elderly teachers might be unfit for the job, she said that teachers considered old can pass on their valuable experience to younger teachers.
As to whether retired teachers holding part-time teaching jobs should have to forfeit their pensions, Ministry of Civil Service official Lu Ming-tai (呂明泰) said retired teachers who have fixed class hours can have their pensions affected under the current system.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) said that retired teachers should still receive the portion of their pensions funded by government-made investments using monthly deductions from their salaries, which makes up 35 percent of their full pensions, adding that part-time teachers do not block teachers seeking full-time positions from finding work.
The pension rules should not be too lax or they would defeat the purpose of reform, DPP Legislator Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) said.
Going by the ministry’s proposed rules, if retired professors who teach for six hours per week make more than the minimum wage they would have to forfeit their pensions, co-convener of the meeting and DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) said, adding that the issue of pensions paid to retired teachers working part-time requires further discussion.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS