The Ministry of Education (MOE) has sent inspectors to investigate the finances of the Chang Jung Girls’ Senior High School in Tainan after school dean Tai Chih-hsun (戴智勳) confirmed that the school is on the brink of insolvency and cannot pay its faculty.
In August, the school’s board of directors declared a salary cut, which led to the dismissal of two board members: Wang Chao-ching (王昭卿), who doubled as the school’s dean, and Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), the deputy minister of the interior.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told reporters yesterday that he and K-12 Education Administration Director-General Peng Fu-yuan (彭富源) agreed to dispatch a task force to the school as soon as possible.
Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times
The school has a decent record and 3,000 students, Pan said, adding that the ministry hopes to bail out the school after gaining a better understanding of the situation, as high-school education is tuition-free.
The ministry sent a K-12 Education Administration official to the school after receiving Tai’s confirmation yesterday morning.
Enrollment has dropped from 5,000 to 3,000 due the nation’s falling birthrate, resulting in reduced income, the school said.
The school was unable to repay NT$20 million (US$662,076) of loans in the first half of this year, and needed to borrow another NT$40 million, it said.
While repaying NT$65 million after receiving NT$85 million of student funds for this school year, personnel and administrative costs quickly burned through the remaining funds, it added.
The school only has NT$10 million on hand, which is not enough to cover personnel costs for one month, Tai said.
“The school will not be able to pay faculty members this month’s salary on time,” Tai said, adding that the school cannot, even though it wants to.
Taking out bank loans is not a long-term solution and, while the school owns NT$40 million of real estate, its hands are tied by the Private School Act (私立學校法), Tai said.
“We hope the K-12 Education Administration will try to understand the school’s situation from all angles,” Tai said.
The teachers’ union at the school had threatened to take action if the school did not resolve matters by tomorrow, Tai said, adding that the school is in talks with the union while meeting with the board to find a solution.
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