The Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday said it would enforce the closure of Yung Ta Institute of Technology and Commerce if it fails to inform the ministry of its shutdown by Jan. 8.
Former school employees yesterday protested outside the Executive Yuan and the ministry, accusing the ministry of failing in its duties and calling for the school to compensate them for salary owed, severance payments and civil servant insurance payouts.
The ministry received court approval to disband the school’s board of directors on Aug 29, after applying in March, on grounds that the school, in Pingtung County’s Linluo Township (麟洛), had breached Article 25 of the Private School Act (私立學校法) and had stopped paying its former faculty members’ monthly pensions.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
However, the school’s board appealed the decision, leaving the case — along with obligations to pay former staff and faculty — hanging in the air.
Department of Technological and Vocational Education official Eric Ker (柯今尉) yesterday said that he had accepted a petition from the protesters.
The ministry said it would uphold the rights of former faculty and staff in the event of forced closure.
The school faced financial difficulties in 2013 and in the next year it applied to the ministry, and failed to obtain, approval to downsize.
In August 2014, the institute said it could not sustain employees and faculty without income from student enrollments, as the ministry had imposed a no-enrollment order on the university and declared that it was shutting down.
However, it said that it was considering transitioning into a junior college.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central