People working in the nation’s vision care and prescription eyeglass sector held a protest outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday, calling for the use of the term “optometrist” instead of “optician.”
Huang Chun-cheng (黃群宸), chairman of the union representing the group, said that ministries around the world have adopted the term “optometrist,” but Ministry of Health and Welfare-issued certificates continue to use the English term “optician,” which means “a non-medical professional” working in prescription eyeglass sector.
“The government is using the wrong translation term, which harms our dignity, tarnishes our professional training and prevents us from engaging and interacting at the international level,” Huang said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) yesterday said the government had adopted the term “optician” when legislators amended the Optometric Personnel Act (驗光人員法) in 2020, after consultations with the Ophthalmological Society of Taiwan and other medical doctor groups.
Professional groups opposed adopting the term “optometrist” because countries have different divisions of medical science fields, have different terminologies or use the same term, but for performing different jobs, she said.
“The ministry respects all medical field occupations and their job in these vital fields,” she said.
“If the request is to adopt a different term and have no change in work functions, then it would be simple.
However, if after the change, their work function might overlap or expand into other fields, we must consult with other medical professional groups and their unions,” she added.
“There are diverse opinions on this issue, so we are open to discussion and input to reach an agreement,” she said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS