At least nine of the nation’s universities have tightened campus access to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
They allow only faculty, administrative staff, students and visitors with permits to enter their campuses, university officials said.
The universities are: National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University, National Chengchi University, Chinese Culture University, National Taipei University and Shih Hsin University in Taipei; Fu Jen Catholic University and Tamkang University in New Taipei City; and Yuan Ze University in Taoyuan.
Photo courtesy of Chinese Culture University
Separately yesterday, lawmakers called on the Ministry of Education to supervise schools more robustly to ensure that students have adequate e-learning resources after a number of high-school and university students were confirmed to have been infected.
Eighteen percent of students below high-school level in Kaohsiung have no Internet access, and the ratio is 15 percent in Taoyuan, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said during a question-and-answer session at the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee.
In areas outside the six special municipalities, 28 percent of students below high-school level in Taitung County have no Internet access, 27 percent in Chiayi County, 18 percent in Pingtung County and 17 percent in Hualien County, Lin said, citing a ministry report.
“I was extremely shocked when I saw the numbers,” she said.
K-12 Education Administration Director-General Peng Fu-yuan (彭富源) said that 32,000 15-day prepaid cards with Internet access have been prepared for economically disadvantaged students in a collaboration between the ministry and the nation’s five telecoms.
The ministry is also investigating the number of mobile devices available for people who need access to remote learning, Peng said, adding that as of yesterday, the ministry and education bureaus nationwide could offer offer 76,000 tablet computers.
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