Taiwan is to broaden subsidies for college tuition, make high school and vocational high schools free, and extend tuition loans, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said on the sidelines of an event at the Freeway Bureau’s traffic control center in Taipei yesterday.
Chen’s remarks came a day after Vice President William Lai (清德昨), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, said that Taiwanese students enrolled in private colleges would receive up to NT$25,000 in tuition subsidies to alleviate their financial burden.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, yesterday said that the proposed measure was a DPP bid to pander to voters before next year’s presidential and legislative elections.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Chen said that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration had carefully examined the issue of education access before deciding to target tuition fees at private colleges.
Tuition costs bar many Taiwanese from pursuing the education they want at private universities and colleges, he said, adding that the subsidies are aimed at leveling the playing field and increasing fairness in education opportunities.
Separately, DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) told a news conference following a session of the party’s Central Standing Committee that Lai’s latest proposals were a continuation of the vice president’s concern for giving poorer Taiwanese a fair chance to access education.
Photo courtesy of William Lai’s campaign office via CNA
Lai reduced the interest on student loans and extended the grace period for repayments during his time as premier, Chang said.
Taiwanese from low-income households often had no option other than attending expensive private colleges, which is a situation that doubly disadvantaged them, Chang said, citing Lai’s comments at the committee meeting.
The proposed measures would address those issues, Chang added.
Under current regulations, households with an income of less than NT$1.48 million (US$47,865) are exempt from paying high-school and vocational-school tuition fees, while all others must pay tuition of NT$6,240 per semester per child attending such institutions.
Under the revised rules, all households would be exempt from the fees, Chen said, adding that the policy change is expected to benefit 113,000 students.
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