Representatives of the Taiwan Higher Education Union yesterday gathered outside the Ministry of Education in Taipei to protest what they termed the lack of due process in college instructor layoffs.
Union representatives said that the case of instructors laid off from Yu Da University of Science and Technology in Miaoli County could set an important precedent, as colleges prepare for massive layoffs predicted to come with falling enrollments expected after years of low birth rates.
“The instructors were not laid off because of their performance, but because the school was unwilling to provide courses for them to teach in other departments,” union organization department director Lin Bo-yi (林柏儀) said. “If allowed to stand, the school’s decision could have an important demonstrative effect on other schools.”
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
A union representative said that, while Yu Da is in excellent financial health, the teachers’ departments were deemed unprofitable and marked for termination. They said that under the Teachers’ Act (教師法), schools are not allowed to lay off instructors in such cases, as long as there are courses in other departments that they can teach.
“Previously, I taught courses in other departments, but those departments told me that I could not take on those courses anymore, because the school had determined that I was an ‘excess instructor,’” laid-off teacher Hu Kuei-ling (胡桂玲) said.
She added that many departments had given courses the laid-off instructors could have taught to part-time instructors from outside the university.
Photo: CNA
Lin said the Ministry of Education had failed in its responsibility to oversee the layoffs, not requiring the university to provide proof that there were no courses available outside the teachers’ departments.
University Secretarial Office secretary-general Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥) said that for the instructors in question to remain employed by teaching courses in other departments, they would need to submit a transfer request that must be approved by the other departments.
Each instructor in question either failed to submit a transfer request or had their request rejected by the other departments, he said.
Senior ministry official Chiang Hsiu-chu (姜秀珠) said that under current regulations, a university can demonstrate that it met its obligations to seek alternative employment for instructors by providing proof that its teachers review committee met and determined that an educator either failed to apply for a transfer or had been rejected.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
RSS