To display its resolve to sort out once and for all the financial problems surrounding several private schools, the Ministry of Education recently released a list of 10 schools -- the largest number ever -- which have been penalized by having their funding from the ministry frozen.
The total amount of the frozen funding amounts to more than NT$306 million, which accounts for 7 percent of the entire educational subsidy earmarked for private schools this year.
Four out of the 10 schools have been punished by having their budgets -- slated for distribution in the latter half of the 2001 fiscal year -- frozen entirely. These four schools include the Jin-Wen Institute of Technology (
The other six are to have additional performance-related subsidies cut off.
Some of these schools were chastised for their financial mis-management and others were singled out for problems on their school boards.
An official at the ministry said the move to publicize a complete list of funding provided to each school signaled the ministry's determination to rectify long-standing financial irregularities at private institutes.
"By publicly issuing this detailed list, the ministry has attempted to put the fear of God into the trouble-ridden schools ... The ministry hopes schools can make the best use of educational funding, for the sake of their students," said Wang Fu-lin (王福林), vice director of the ministry's department of technological and vocational education.
The schools that are on the punishment list can apply for a review if their operations are turned around or if they manage to sort out their troubled financial situations, and their subsidies will be restored once they pass the ministry's muster.
Up to now, however, only the Ching Yun Institute of Technology has applied to have its status reviewed.
It is the Jin-Wen Institute that has, without doubt, attracted the most attention.
The month-long scandal took a new twist yesterday, as officials began a probe into the source of the founding capital for the Jin-Wen High School (
Fourteen officials responsible for the establishment of the high school, between 1991 to 1993, were questioned by the justice department yesterday.
The next person on the list to be investigated is Lin Chao-hsien (
Lin served as the director of the Taipei City Government's education bureau at the same time the high school was founded.
The Jin-Wen scandal erupted last July when Chang Wan-li (
‘UNITED FRONT’: The married couple allegedly produced talk show videos for platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to influence Taiwan’s politics A husband and wife affiliated with the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) were indicted yesterday for allegedly receiving NT$74 million (US$2.32 million) from China to make radio and digital media propaganda to promote the Chinese government’s political agenda and influence the outcome of Taiwan’s elections. Chang Meng-chung (張孟崇) and his wife, Hung Wen-ting (洪文婷), allegedly received a total of NT$74 million from China between 2021 and last year to promote candidates favored by Beijing, contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and election laws, the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office said. The couple acted as Beijing’s propaganda mouthpiece by disparaging Hong Kong democracy activists
A Control Yuan member yesterday said he would initiate an investigation into why the number of foreign nationals injured or killed in traffic incidents has nearly doubled in the past few years, and whether government agencies’ mechanisms were ineffective in ensuring road safety. Control Yuan member Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said in a news release that Taiwan has been described as a “living hell for pedestrians” and traffic safety has become an important national security issue. According to a National Audit Office report released last year, more than 780,000 foreign nationals were legally residing in Taiwan in 2019, which grew to more than
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
The US will continue its friendly approach toward Taiwan in the next US administration and Taiwan would work to prevent China “making trouble” during the transition, a senior Taiwanese security official said yesterday. Former US president Donald Trump, the Republican candidate who claimed victory in Tuesday’s vote against US Vice President Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party, made comments on the campaign trail that Taiwan should pay to be protected and also accused the nation of “stealing” American semiconductor business. Taiwan has faced military pressure from Beijing over the past five years, including four major rounds of war games in the past