Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday proposed expanding kindergarten subsidies to cover children aged between three and five years old, as part of his efforts to assuage the nation’s dwindling birth rate.
“Taiwan’s declining birth rate is primarily attributed to the rising financial burden on young couples, which is why we must address the problem by increasing educational subsidies,” Chu told a forum held at the KMT headquarters yesterday morning to unveil his educational platform.
In a country that has a 3:7 ratio of public to private kindergartens, most young couples put off parenthood for economic reasons, Chu said.
Chu said that if elected, he would increase the education budget from 22.5 percent of the nation’s average net annual revenue to 23.5 percent, to fund his policy of lowering the minimum age limit for the government’s preschool subsidies from five to three.
Under the Ministry of Education’s current preschool subsidy scheme, families of children eligible for the subsidies are entitled to tuition-free admission to public kindergartens or a grant of NT$15,000 per child for each semester they attend a private preschools.
Those from financially disadvantaged families can receive an additional subsidy of between NT$6,000 and NT$10,000 per semester if they go to public preschools, and between NT$5,000 to NT$15,000 if they attend private kindergartens.
“I intend to start with a pilot scheme in the first year [of my presidential term] aimed at children who live in outlying islands, are born to Aboriginal parents, or come from impoverished households,” Chu said, adding that the scheme would be implemented nationwide in his second year.
Regarding higher education, Chu said he would endeavor to internationalize the nation’s universities to solicit more foreign students, such as those from China and ASEAN countries.
Asked if he would open Taiwan’s doors wider to Chinese students if he takes office, Chu said he plans to allow Chinese students who have graduated from that nation’s five-year junior-college system to study in Taiwanese universities of science and technology.
“Not just Chinese students; we also hope to attract more students from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam to study here,” Chu said. “Our goal is to see them employed by Taiwanese corporations based in their countries after they graduate.”
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
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