Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday announced that the city government has raised the minimum monthly salary of childcare providers at privately managed nurseries funded by the government to NT$38,000, and that it is working to lower the maximum childcare ratio to one adult to four children.
Chiang said he has three children, including two younger than two years old, so he understands the difficulties and stress that childcare providers experience.
“Therefore, we have good news for childcare providers — the Taipei City Government is raising the minimum salary of childcare providers to NT$38,000,” he said while visiting a public nursery in Nangang District (南港).
Photo: CNA
The minimum salary stood at NT$34,000 before the central government raised it to NT$35,485 last year. The city government raised it further to NT$38,000, retroactive to January.
“Moreover, the [maximum] child-to-provider ratio will be lowered from 5:1 to 4:1,” he said. “It is to reduce the childcare providers’ burden and improve education and care quality,” he said.
There are currently 81 privately managed, publicly funded childcare facilities in the city, and the city government hopes to increase the number to 103 by 2026, and the care capacity from about 1,700 to about 2,200 young children.
“As we increase the number of public childcare facilities, we hope to improve the working conditions of childcare providers, so they can have less concerns when taking care of children,” he said.
An estimated 512 childcare providers should benefit from the salary increase, he said.
Chiang added that discussions abound about artificial intelligence (AI) systems replacing human workers in certain jobs, but the experience and professional abilities of childcare providers, including their affection, can never be replaced by AI systems, so the city hopes to improve their working conditions and nurture more excellent childcare staff.
Separately, the mayor was asked to comment on Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chien Hsu-pei’s (簡舒培) report that a Chinese temporary worker at the city government had uploaded several short videos of Chiang at different events to Douyin (抖音), the Chinese version of TikTok, accompanied by a hashtag “The two sides of the Strait are one family.”
Chiang said that based on the city government’s understanding, the worker was hired by the city’s health department in August last year using the Ministry of Labor’s job matching site.
The worker only handled general affairs and transportation-
related work, and did not deal with confidential data, he said, adding that she has left the job.
He said the city government would also remind city workers not to conduct non-work-related activities at work.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
MESSAGE: The ministry said China and the Philippines are escalating regional tensions, and Taiwan should be included in dialogue mechanisms on an equal footing Taiwan has rejected renewed sovereignty claims over the South China Sea by the Philippines and China by reaffirming its sovereignty and rights under international law over the disputed area. “The Republic of China [ROC] enjoys all rights to island groups and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea in accordance with international law and maritime laws,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement yesterday. Other countries’ attempts to claim sovereignty over the South China Sea do not change the fact that the ROC holds sovereignty over the region, the ministry said. The MOFA statement came after
RSS