Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday released his women and children’s policy, promising to give subsidies of up to NT$30,000 (US$950) to city residents who have children.
He proposed a NT$20,000 subsidy for parents who have their first baby, and in an effort to increase the city’s birthrate and ease the burden on parents, a second newborn in the family would be eligible for a NT$30,000 subsidy.
Su also promised to give a monthly subsidy of NT$2,500 to families with one child under the age of six. Family with two or more children would receive a NT$2,500 monthly subsidy for their first-born child and NT$3,000 for every additional child.
The DPP candidate presented the policy after a similar subsidy plan was presented by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) in May.
In Hau’s subsidy plan, Taipei residents who have a child would be eligible for a NT$20,000 subsidy from Jan. 1. The city government would offer the subsidy for a newborn if either parent’s registered household has been in Taipei City for more than one year. Families with children under five years old and an annual net income below NT$1.13 million would receive a monthly subsidy of NT$2,500.
Su described Hau’s birth subsidy plan as an irresponsible strategy to attract voters’ support by “paying the bill once and leaving,” and insisted that his women and children’s policy would include other measures, including raising the quality of childcare service.
“The money is of course an incentive, but not the only one. Our policy is more comprehensive and will more effectively encourage an increase in the birth rate,” he said.
Hau defended his birth subsidy plan yesterday, saying the city would also enhance the after-school care of students as a way to ease the burden on parents. He also ridiculed Su for copying the content of his policy.
“I am happy to see that Mr Su is following our footsteps and presenting a similar subsidy plan,” he said.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS