Even though Tropical Storm Mindulle has inflicted severe damage on a number of elementary and high schools in central Taiwan, the Ministry of Education yesterday said that Basic Competency Tests for junior high graduates will be held this Saturday and Sunday as scheduled.
Vice Minister of Education Lu Mu-lin (
Lu said that the ministry had therefore decided not to postpone the tests.
"But the ministry will also help examinees living in disaster areas with transportation and accommodation during the days of the exam," Lu said.
"We will do our best to make sure every student takes the exam under fair conditions," he said.
Lu said the ministry had ordered schools near disaster areas to provide dormitories and facilities to students taking the tests and that the ministry would provide emergency grants to students and their families.
SCHOOLS DAMAGED
The storm damaged 281 schools around the country, with 89 schools throughout central and southern Taiwan suffering serious damage and requiring urgent repairs. The most damage was inflicted on schools in Taichung, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi and Kaohsiung counties and Tainan City.
On Sunday afternoon, Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) inspected damaged schools in Tungshih and Fengyuan in Tai-chung County, two locations that were also devastated by the 911 earthquake in 1999.
Chungko Elementary School and Tungshih Junior High School were the most damaged schools in the county. The schools' computer classrooms, library, teachers' offices and infirmaries were inundated with floodwater. Tu ordered ministry officials to rebuild the schools as quickly as possible.
Preliminary ministry estimates indicate that nearly NT$200 million will be needed to rebuild or restore the damaged buildings and facilities.
The approximately 600 students unable to take the Joint College Entrance Examination because of the storm will be required to sit make-up exams from July 21 to July 23, with other entrance concessions also possible, said Chen Teh-hua (
It will be the first time the center has reheld tests since 1954.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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