The Ministry of the Interior’s acquisition of a property last week under the now-closed Chung Chou University of Science and Technology marked the first such transfer to the government for alternative uses.
The property, including 60,745m2 of land and 12 buildings, was valued at NT$2.36 billion (US$74.48 million) and transferred to the ministry on Tuesday last week.
The property is likely to be used by the reservist forces and the Quick Response Forces under the Second Special Police Corps, it said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Ministry of Education’s Department of Technological and Vocational Education Deputy Director-General Ko Chin-wei (柯今尉) on Friday said that the board of the foundation that owns the building, eponymous with the school, had been disbanded by ministry order and replaced with an interim board formed by faculty and experts on July 31 last year.
The ministry said it is planning to use the property to provide self-defense and self-help classes and training on other defense-related affairs.
The ministry said it would continue to work with the interim board of the school to handle its properties and other assets.
Photo: CNA
In other news, the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Friday said the nation’s declining birthrate continues to affect the education sector, citing 47 schools’ opting to have the ministry “reserve” 3,171 student recruitment slots for the next academic year.
The MOE said that junior colleges and universities have “reserved” more than 50,000 recruitment slots with the ministry over the past three years, but only 1 percent of that reserved amount, about 500, has been redeemed.
Reserved recruitment slots mean there is a gap between the number of students an institution is allowed to enroll and the number it could enroll, meaning fewer than expected students are admitted.
Starting from 2014, the MOE has allowed schools to keep a certain number of ministry-approved quotas for student recruitment “in reserve”; for instance, schools allowed to recruit 100 students but assessed that they could only recruit 60 can “reserve” 40 student recruitment slots for later use.
The MOE said that while the recruitment slots remain “reserved” with the ministry, universities nationwide are reporting decreased enrollment.
Public universities have reserved 163 slots this year, while private universities reserved 452 slots, and 31 science and technology universities reserved 2,756, the ministry’s latest statistics showed.
Public universities reserved 334 slots this year, they showed, but the number is expected to rise to 520 in the next academic year, marking a record high.
On the other hand, private universities saw 5,564 reserved slots this year, but the number is expected to drop to 2,851 next year, the ministry said.
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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