The Ministry of Education on Thursday asked universities to assist Ukrainian students following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian military on Thursday launched an attack on Ukraine shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in the eastern European country.
There are 72 Ukrainian students in Taiwan, the ministry said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
It asked universities to contact students to provide assistance and help them get in touch with their families, Department of International and Cross-strait Education Director Lee Yen-yi (李彥儀) said.
Wang Chun-cheng (王俊程), vice president of Student Affairs at National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), said that there are three Ukrainian students studying at the university, all of whom have been in contact with their families.
The school’s counseling center is to contact students to offer support, and allocate emergency allowances, he added.
NTHU also started the Neighbor Program to allow Taiwanese studying in Ukraine to return and continue their education in Taiwan.
The university said that undergraduate and graduate students would be welcome to attend short-term exchange programs.
Outgoing university president Hocheng Hong (賀陳弘) and Kao Wei-yuan (高為元), who is to take over as president in May, jointly launched the program to help Taiwanese students continue their education amid the conflict.
This is not the university’s first education initiative launched in response to an international crisis.
At the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many high-school graduates to shelve their study-abroad plans, even though they had been accepted to universities overseas. NTHU established Academy For All to allow the students to experience life on campus before they start their studies abroad.
NTHU vice president for academic affairs Wu Yung-hsien (巫勇賢) said the Neighbor Program allows students coming back from Ukraine to take courses following the guidelines for students from its sister universities.
No tuition is required, he said, adding that students can sign up for all the courses offered to undergraduate and graduate students, including experimental, practical and sports classes.
The university would assist interested students with course selection, Wu said.
Although the new semester began last week, Wu said that affected students could arrange makeup sessions with their instructors.
Students who are unable to return can take free online courses offered by NTHU, he added.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to