Several university presidents yesterday urged the Ministry of Education to allow Chinese students who will soon be entering the nation’s universities to join the National Health Insurance program, just as other international students do.
Asked to comment on the sidelines of the Third Cross-Strait University Presidents’ Forum in Taipei, Shih Hsin University president Lai Ting-ming (賴鼎銘) said problems could arise as Chinese students begin to enroll in Taiwanese universities next year because they cannot be insured under the program at present.
National Chengchi University president Wu Si-hua (吳思華), who hosted the forum, said Chinese students should be able to enjoy the same rights as international students.
Under the National Insurance Act (全民健康保險法), only Republic of China nationals who have had household registration in Taiwan for more than four months are allowed to participate in the mandatory social insurance system.
Foreigners who have had residency in Taiwan for more than four months are also allowed to be insured under the program. However, students from China do not fit into either category.
The director of the ministry’s -Department of Higher Education, Ho Cho-fei (何卓飛), dismissed the possibility, saying Chinese students should be covered under a student insurance plan.
They can purchase other private insurance if necessary, Ho said.
Meanwhile, National Cheng Kung University president Michael Lai (賴明詔) said he was concerned about the ability of universities to attract Chinese students, given the restrictions the ministry sought to impose on them.
Following the relaxation of rules in August, universities are now allowed to recruit students from China, but are barred from providing -scholarship funding or part-time jobs to Chinese.
Michael Lai said Cheng Kung University had sought to provide funding for potential students from China through fundraising.
In related developments, Ho told the two-day forum that education officials across the Taiwan Strait should establish a mechanism allowing them to conduct regular dialogue and thereby ensure that papers signed by ministries or universities on both sides are legally binding.
The ministry has been considering a cross-strait educational memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a systematic platform for dialogue.
Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) said last month that the ministry hoped to ink the MOU by the end of the year.
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