Despite a NT$7.9 billion (US$258.63 million) cut in the Ministry of Education’s budget due to amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法), the ministry said it would prioritize funding for higher education, information technology, and climate change and disaster prevention.
The amendments increased the total centrally funded tax revenues for local governments to NT$416.5 billion.
The ministry’s NT$95.5 billion subsidies for local governments of would be down NT$16 billion from this fiscal year, with the K-12 Administration being the most affected, the ministry’s report to the legislature showed.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
The K-12 Administration would have a NT$154.6 billion budget for the next fiscal year, which is NT$13.8 billion, or 8 percent, lower than this year’s budget, it said.
The reduction would also affect the second iteration of the “Nation Raises 0 to 6-year-olds Program,” as the central government had shouldered the entire NT$68.8 billion cost for this fiscal year, but would only pay NT$60 billion for next year, with local governments shouldering the remaining NT$8.85 billion, the ministry said.
Most of the power-electricity expenses for elementary and junior-high schools that were wholly subsidized by the central government, which totaled NT$3.81 billion this year, would be passed on to local governments, it said, adding that those would total NT$3.4 billion.
Of the NT$2.88 billion subsidies previously shouldered by the ministry to ensure that elementary schools could provide 1.65 teachers to every class, NT$1.37 billion would be passed on to local governments, the report said.
The central government’s share in subsidizing hiring of consultants and assistants for student consultation centers would be reduced to NT$2.2 billion, while local governments are to provide the remaining NT$1.29 billion, it said.
The NT$1.88 billion expenses of the program to promote bilingualism in elementary and junior-high schools are to be passed on to the K-12 Administration for the next fiscal year, the report said.
The Department of Higher Education’s funding would increase by NT$2 billion, of which NT$1.5 billion is to be allocated for subsidizing national universities’ dormitory renovations and NT$878 million is to fund the second stage of bilingual education in universities, it said.
Additionally, NT$343 million has been allocated to increase wages for educators and research staff, while subsidies for private universities are to increase by NT$755 million, it added.
The ministry would also increase the budget for academic computers and Internet infrastructure by NT$325 million, while efforts to develop next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) learning models, AI literacy courses and AI-related educational material would receive NT$210 million, the report said.
The National Development Fund is to take over NT$2 billion of the funding for the Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative, while the Youth Development Administration’s share in those expenses would fall by NT$1 billion.
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