The Taipei Department of Education yesterday said it is launching an extended-studies voucher program for seniors, offering vouchers of up to NT$3,000 for courses that it expects to benefit thousands.
The program aims to encourage seniors to devote themselves to lifelong learning.
From next month through May, the department is offering 36 free “taster” courses on subjects such as health and information, creative handicrafts and financial management in retirement to all seniors who are a registered resident of Taipei, the department said.
The vouchers would be available from June, and would cover part of the tuition fees for seniors enrolling in summer or fall courses at community colleges, it said.
Those who can prove that they are low-income or low-to-middle-income residents of Taipei would receive vouchers for up to NT$3,000 in course fees, it said, adding that seniors who do not fall into that category would qualify for vouchers of up to NT$1,000.
All eligible seniors, defined as being 65 or older, can sign up for the program at their local community college immediately, the department said.
Registration for the vouchers would start by June, with the details of when and where to apply to be announced later, the department said.
At a trial event yesterday, the department invited Weng Ho Kuang-mei (翁何光美), who studies at Shilin Community College, to share her experiences.
Weng Ho has studied Japanese at the college since 1999.
She said that she had returned for the past 24 years without fail because the teachers encouraged the students to keep learning, saying the constant mental activity would prevent their brains from regressing.
The college has also kept up with the times, as she had wanted to take some days off due to knee surgery, but the teacher encouraged her to use a tablet computer and join the class remotely, Weng Ho said.
She said that learning a foreign language after she turned 70 has opened up her mind, enabling her to become more accepting of new things.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS