A consumer watchdog yesterday highlighted problems with many after-school tutorial centers, saying they had inappropriate policies on refunds, installment payments and contract guarantees.
After-school tutorial centers, private language classes and test preparation schools are a popular way for many students in Taiwan to cope with the demands of their education.
A recent investigation by the Consumers’ Foundation focusing on tutorial centers in 25 cities and counties found that “unreasonable” policies were undermining students’ rights.
Foundation chairman Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁) said only seven of the cities and counties surveyed had regulations requiring tutorial centers to offer 100 percent refunds to consumers who requested them before the start of classes. Three cities and counties required 95 percent refunds, while nine required 90 percent refunds.
The foundation said some tutorial centers took advantage of loopholes — such as offering special discounts that allow students to purchase more classes at a lower rate — but because the discount offers were not counted as regular tutorial fees, they were not refundable.
Some centers also offer students installment plans, which are in effect micro loans from banks, but students are not protected in the event that the tutorial center goes bankrupt and students would still be responsible for paying their debt to the banks, the foundation said.
The foundation said tutorial centers with unclear refund and payment policies were taking advantage of students.
“Other than administrative costs, tutorial centers should be able to provide a full refund to students before the start of classes,” Hsieh said.
The foundation called on local governments to step up protection of consumer rights by setting stricter regulations on refund policies at tutorial centers and conducting inspections to prevent the businesses from taking advantage of legal loopholes.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS