The Awakening Foundation yesterday criticized the government’s plan to offer more than NT$30 billion (US$1 billion) in subsidies to private kindergartens, saying the money could build and fund almost 3,000 public childcare centers and non-profit kindergartens, which would benefit more than 310,000 children.
With Premier William Lai (賴清德) today scheduled to announce the details of a policy to address the nation’s dwindling birthrate, the foundation called on the government to review its plan to subsidize private kindergartens, calling it a waste of money.
The Executive Yuan has previously said it would offer annual subsidies to private kindergartens that agree to raise the staring salaries of their teachers to NT$29,000 as part of a plan to lower the tuition fees at such schools, said foundation board member Hung Hui-fen (洪慧芬), a Soochow University Department of Social Work associate professor.
The government would give each private kindergarten approximately the average cost of a non-profit kindergarten — namely one funded by government and run by a non-profit organization — plus 5 percent profit, she said, adding that the nationwide policy would require an estimated NT$30 billion per year.
“Lai had said that the plan to subsidize private kindergartens was made because the speed at which public and non-profit kindergartens are being built cannot meet the nation’s growing need for childcare services and preschools. However, if that is true, why not allocate more money to building them or even transform some private kindergartens to non-profit ones?” foundation policy director Chyn Yu-rung (覃玉蓉) said.
Private kindergartens are known for overworking their employees and their quality is often questionable, she said.
Only public and non-profit kindergartens, which are regularly reviewed to meet strict government standards, can be trusted for the quality of their childcare service, their pricing and work conditions, she added.
“The nation has been dealing with a lack of public childcare services and their uneven distribution for more than 20 years,” Alliance of Educare Trade Unions director Kuo Ming-hsu (郭明旭) said.
Subsidizing private kindergartens would not solve any problems, as they would only be opened in profitable locations, he said.
“Of all the nation’s districts and townships, 43 have no private kindergartens — and they are not necessarily what people typically consider ‘remote areas,’” he said.
Offering subsidies to private kindergartens would not help families living in those areas, nor would it improve the quality of those kindergartens or increase birthrate, he said.
The NT$30 billion could be better spent by building public childcare centers and non-profit kindergartens, Hung said.
The foundation has misunderstood the policy, Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said yesterday.
The actual details would be announced at a news conference at the Executive Yuan today, Hsu said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
1.4nm WAFERS: While TSMC is gearing up to expand its overseas production, it would also continue to invest in Taiwan, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has applied for permission to construct a new plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which it would use for the production of new high-speed wafers, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council, which supervises three major science parks in Taiwan, confirmed that the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau had received an application on Friday from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to commence work on the new A14 fab. A14 technology, a 1.4 nanometer (nm) process, is designed to drive artificial intelligence transformation by enabling faster computing and greater power
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
RSS