Fri, Dec 31, 1999 page2

• Teacher pensions strain government resources

  RETIREMENT PACKAGE Teachers in private schools want the same deal their public school counterparts get, but the government is worried about its budget

  • By Stephanie Low / STAFF REPORTER
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  Teachers in Taiwan's private schools want to receive the same pension benefits as their counterparts in the public school system, but government agencies are wary of the costs involved.

  "All we ask for is fairness, since we are doing the same work as public school teachers," said Hou Ju-pi (侯如璧), a teacher from the private Chung Shan Elementary School in Taipei yesterday.

  But while the Ministry of Education is generally supportive of the private teachers' cause, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) is concerned about the burden such payments would impose on the central government coffers.

  Currently, teachers at private and public schools recieve widely differing retirement benefits. Public school teachers, covered by the Civil Servant Pension Fund scheme, enjoy a secure welfare after retirement, while private teachers do not.

  Teachers covered by the fundcan choose to receive their retirement payment either as a lump sum or as monthly stipends. Under the scheme, money for the premium is deducted from public school teachers' salaries every month, constituting 35 percent of their total contributions to the fund. The remaining 65 percent is covered by the govern-ment's annual budget. In addition, the government must reimburse shortfalls in case of any future deficits.

  The education ministry is planning to expand the pension scheme to cover private school teachers, but the DGBAS is hesitant about the proposal in view of its financial burden.

  Chen Ko-yun (陳克允), director of the education ministry's Bureau of Personnel, said the ministry is studying the possibility of raising the premium rate of employee contributions to resolve the problem.

  The premium rate is based on 8 percent of two times a teacher's salary.

  For example, a teacher making NT$30,000 per month has a premium of NT$4,800, of which the government pays NT$3,120 and the teacher NT$1,680.

  Chen explained that as the current premium rate of 8 percent rate is already insufficient to sustain the fund, the participation of some 45,000 private school teachers would mean increasing the government's financial burden.

  "Actuarial data show that the rate will need to be raised to 17 percent in order to achieve a financial balance," Chen said.

  Though the increment will take place gradually over a period of time, a raise in premium rate appears inevitable, Chen said.

  Liu Hsien-teh (劉賢德), a section chief in charge of the plan at the bureau, said that the ministry is also considering a proposal to set up an independent fund for all teachers -- thereby separating public school teachers from the Civil Servant Retirement Fund.

  However, Liu said, this would also raise the question of what premium rate should be adopted.

  "The premium rate may also be higher than 8 percent and we are worried about the possible reaction from public school teachers if they were asked to pay a higher premium," Liu said.

  For private school teachers, their schools would need to pitch in the equivalent of the government's 65 percent contribution if the ministry's plan was adopted.

  At present, private school teachers are not required to make any such contributions.

  Each registered private school earmarks two percent of its income from tuition fees for a fund to finance the teachers' retirement package.

  The eventual payout is given to the teacher in a lump sum and is is usually much less than what a public school teacher receives.
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