The Ministry of Education is only “taking reform halfway” with a draft amendment to the Private School Act (私立學校法) it proposed last week that would bar high-ranking ministry officials from serving as presidents, directors or supervisors at private universities within three years of their retirement, the Taiwan Higher Education Union said yesterday.
Union members staged a protest in front of the ministry building in Taipei, accusing it of creating a loophole in the amendment.
The amendment prohibits ministry officials who have held the positions of minister, deputy minister, department of higher education director or chief secretary from taking up posts at universities.
Photo: Fang pin-chao, Taipei Times
However, it falls short of prohibiting lower-ranked officials whose work is related to higher education from assuming private university posts, which could give rise to possible corruption at private institutions, the union said.
For example, officials who previously held posts as a deputy director or a senior specialist could improperly use their influence to help the university they are working for secure more funds, it said.
The group named two former ministry officials who have recently made “seamless transitions” to private university posts, accusing them of acting as “door gods” or “guardians” for their schools.
Former deputy minister of education Chen Der-hwa (陳德華), who retired from the ministry in May after working there for 33 years, became an adjunct professor at Da-Yeh University and Hwa Hsia University of Technology in September, union organization department director Lin Po-yi (林柏儀) said.
Lin said that Chen in 2011 penned an article panning calls to gradually reduce the number of students at all universities, saying that it would be a “major disaster” for higher education.
Chen’s article advocated against reducing the gap between the number of students and lecturers, which would help universities collect more tuition fees, but would tilt the student-teacher ratio unfavorably against students, he said, adding that this is proof Chen had attempted to benefit universities.
Former Department of Technological and Vocational deputy director Jao Pang-an (饒邦安), who retired in August last year and is now the chief secretary at Takming University of Science and Technology, advocated against “directors of public interest” — objective, disinterested members of third-party organizations that recommended staff for private universities’ boards of directors to protect faculty and student rights — in an article published by the Taiwan Education Review, union secretary-general Chen Cheng-liang (陳政亮) said.
Jao could be protecting private school directors who have been involved in illegal profiteering, he said.
Ministry official Ting Hui-hsiang (丁慧翔) dismissed accusations that the ministry is insincere about the reform, calling the draft amendment the ministry’s “act of self-regulation.”
Citing Constitutional Interpretation No. 637, she said the draft amendment should not overly infringe on civil servants’ rights to work, adding that the ministry proposed the amendment after reviewing relevant provisions governing civil servants who have retired.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to