Civil servants’ leave
According to the Civil Servant Leave Regulations (公務人員請假規則), civil servants are entitled to 28 days per year of sick leave with full pay, plus up to one year of full-pay “extended sick leave” out of every two years in case of serious illness.
Ministry of Civil Service statistics show that 1,119 civil servants applied for extended sick leave in 2011, taking an average of about 107 days off work, but the national treasury still had to pay their salaries, amounting to NT$170 million (US$5.99 million).
As there is no definition of “serious illness” with regard to extended sick leave, civil servants can apply for such leave by simply presenting a diagnosis from a state-run hospital and having it approved by a supervisor. This has led to numerous instances of loopholes being exploited.
For example, in 2018 an officer of the National Police Agency’s First Special Police Corps took nine months of extended sick leave, during which he was paid his full salary, but also opened a branch of a well-known brunch restaurant chain. Only after being exposed did he quickly apply for retirement.
Last year a civil servant working for the New Taipei City Department of Health was on leave for five months before being exposed as going shopping and traveling while still collecting her salary of more than NT$200,000. The Department of Health said that everything was handled in accordance with the regulations governing civil servants.
Extended sick leave for civil servants probably has a legitimate purpose, but when there is excessive protection, it will inevitably be manipulated by people with ulterior motives. It also has a negative impact on the administrative efficiency of the civil service system.
With the government experiencing financial difficulties, while civil servants who need to take leave without pay might not be able to find anyone to cover their duties, it further highlights how unreasonable it is for those on extended sick leave to receive full pay.
It would be better to adopt the rules that apply to leave for other workers, so that the conditions for “serious illness” would be “hospitalization” or “having cancer,” and all sick leave, including extended leave and the regular 28 days of annual sick leave, would be paid at half salary.
That would allow better use of resources while taking care of those who really need it.
Fang Chiu-ling
Taipei
Nearsightedness state
It is exciting to see the prevalence of myopia (nearsightedness) in elementary-school children reached a 10-year low in 2019 (“Nearsightedness among children hits 10-year low,” July 4, 2020, page 2).
However, the number is still too high to claim success.
According to a recent study, 25 percent of seven-year-olds in Taiwan have myopia. This number remains disconcerting, especially when compared with other countries. For example, among six-year-olds in the Netherlands, the prevalence of myopia is 2.4 percent.
Myopia matters because it is a disease, just as hypertension and diabetes are. Myopia needs to be treated and controlled because it can lead to severe complications. The earlier it occurs, the more severe it can become, and the higher the chance of having a vision-threatening disease: cataracts, retinal detachment, glaucoma and macular disorders.
To protect people’s eyesight, the government began a myopia prevention program in 1999. All elementary-school children received free vision screening every semester. In addition, the program provided strategies to improve classroom lighting, adjust table height and encourage eye exercises.
However, the number of school children with myopia kept rising. In 2009, the program’s focus shifted to outdoor activities promotion because the latest research indicated that outdoor activities can prevent myopia from developing. School children are encouraged to have two hours of outdoor activity every day.
However, this recommendation is a “mission impossible” for many families, especially those of low socioeconomic status. Most parents and caregivers cannot take their children to participate in outdoor activities after school every day, given their long working hours.
In addition, some children have heavy workloads in which they need to spend a lot of time on writing and reading after school.
The government should place the responsibility on elementary schools, given that children spend most of their time at school, and myopia progression speed is highest between the ages of six and 10.
The government should adjust the curriculum in elementary schools and integrate more outdoor education into the curriculum.
In addition, all elementary schools should encourage children to leave their classrooms during recess. This can help them gain extra outdoor time at school.
Moreover, the government should reassess reading and workloads for elementary-school children because the time spent on near-work activities is one of the risk factors for myopia development and progression.
Promoting two hours of outdoor activities every day is an efficient and cost-effective strategy in the fight against myopia among school children.
However, it would remain solely a slogan without a robust policy implementation in elementary schools.
Weng Sut Sio
Vancouver, Canada
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