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.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book