The government yesterday unveiled a youth subsidy program to help children from low-income families make a smooth transition to college or work and help students graduating from high schools get a head start on their careers.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) yesterday unveiled the Youth Employment Pilot Program at a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei.
According to the program, the education ministry and Ministry of Labor would each allocate a monthly subsidy of NT$5,000 (US$157.43) to 5,000 qualifying high-school students graduating next year for up to three years, Pan said.
The subsidies would be deposited to “employment savings accounts” and participants will be able to claim the subsidies after they complete the program, he said.
Quoting President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as saying that the nation needs to grant students more freedom in education, Pan said that his ministry hopes that students who finish high school can break from the norm of jumping into higher education after their graduation and take leeway to experience the workplace and see the world.
To qualify for the program, applicants will be required to submit proposals stating how long they want to work and what they hope to achieve, and pass a review, after which they would be directed to companies that match their objectives, he said.
The time frame indicated by applicants in their proposals cannot be shorter than two years or longer than five years, he said.
During this period, students participating in the program will be offered jobs at government-selected companies operating in traditional, agricultural, cultural and creative, and industrial and commercial sectors, Pan said, adding that all companies taking part in the program would undergo a vetting process to ensure that the participants work in reasonable conditions and are paid more than the minimum wage.
Participants who work for three years or longer would able to claim subsidies totaling NT$360,000, which can be used to start their own businesses or pursue further education, he said.
Participants who have made other plans or decide to return to school without completing the program would be able to claim subsidies in proportion to the time they spent in the program on the condition that they file an application and pass a review, he said.
The experience participants would gain from the program would serve as a key reference for those who choose to pursue a higher education, the minister said, adding that the ministry would create a separate application channel for participants who did not enter college entrance examinations.
Companies that participate in the program will receive a monthly subsidy of NT$5,000 for each graduate they train, Pan said.
The Executive Yuan said that it has earmarked NT$7.2 billion to fund the first stage of the program, which is to run until 2020.
Alternatively, high-school graduates can apply to work as tour guides at local or overseas tourist sites or as volunteers at nonprofit organizations working with the education ministry and find out what they are interested in, Pan said.
Citing an Institute of Information Industry survey, which shows that 25 percent of university students say that they “picked the wrong major” after their matriculation, Pan said that he hopes the program will help break the trend and help students use their education in their jobs.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lu Pau-
ching (呂寶靜) said that children who were born into low-income families after Jan. 1 this year would be eligible for an annual subsidy of NT$15,000, which will be wired to a “children’s’ education account,” until they are 18 years old.
In return, parents will be required to deposit NT$15,000 into the account every year, she said.
Together, the ministry and parents would be able to accumulate funds of NT$540,000 per child, which can be used to cover college tuition or the costs needed for them to start a business, she said.
The ministry hopes that the subsidy would serve as a means to help low-income families attain self-sufficiency, she said.
The ministry has earmarked NT$160 million for the first year of the program, she said.
The savings accounts will be opened at Bank of Taiwan, she said.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
A woman who allegedly spiked the food and drinks of an Australian man with rat poison, leaving him in intensive care, has been charged with attempted murder, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. The woman, identified by her surname Yang (楊), is accused of repeatedly poisoning Alex Shorey over the course of several months last year to prevent the Australian man from leaving Taiwan, prosecutors said in a statement. Shorey was evacuated back to Australia on May 3 last year after being admitted to intensive care in Taiwan. According to prosecutors, Yang put bromadiolone, a rodenticide that prevents blood from
A Japanese space rocket carrying a Taiwanese satellite blasted off yesterday, but was later seen spiraling downward in the distance as the company said the launch attempt had failed. It was the second attempt by the Japanese start-up Space One to become the country’s first private firm to put a satellite into orbit, after its first try in March ended in a mid-air explosion. This time, its solid-fuel Kairos rocket had been carrying five satellites, including one from the Taiwan Space Agency and others designed by Japanese students and corporate ventures. Spectators gathered near the company’s coastal Spaceport Kii launch pad in Japan’s
RSS