The Ministry of Education has proposed to increase its budget next year by NT$27.8 billion (US$869.78 million) to a record NT$362.3 billion, with more funds allocated to digital technology education, Deputy Minister of Education Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) said on Saturday.
The additional NT$27.8 billion would be spent on four new projects, he said.
NT$5.9 billion would be used to subsidize the electricity costs for schools as their preferential electricity price program is to be suspended, NT$2.8 billion would be for on-campus housing subsidies for university students, while NT$1 billion would be used to support students traveling abroad for education and exchanges, Chang Liao said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
NT$1.2 billion would be allocated for long service bonuses for teachers working in rural areas in accordance with the Act for Education Development of Schools in Remote Areas (偏遠地區學校教育發展條例) and NT$2.2 billion would be allocated to the education practitioners’ pension fund, he said.
NT$4.9 billion would be allocated to the sub-replacement fertility response program; NT$2.2 billion would be used to subsidize personnel expenses for military, public and education personnel due to their 3 percent salary raise; NT$2 billion would be used to fund the second phase of the Higher Education Sprout Project; and NT$900 million would be used to increase the salary of doctoral students who teach in universities, Chang Liao said.
To promote education on artificial intelligence, the ministry’s Department of Information and Technology Education increased its budget for next year to NT$7.25 billion, which includes NT$2.7 billion for the facilitation of digital learning at elementary and high schools; NT$990 million for interdisciplinary technology education projects; NT$460 million for enhancing the academic network’s computer information services and basic network operations nationwide; NT$410 million for promoting the incorporation of information technology into teaching; and NT$200 million for the digital empowerment program in rural areas, he said.
Meanwhile, the budget for physical education would be increased by NT$2.1 billion to NT7.5 billion next year, Chang Liao said.
For example, an additional budget of between NT$1.14 billion and NT$1.36 billion would be used to enhance public sports facilities and environments while NT$2.81 billion would be used to improve national sports infrastructure, he said.
Every cent of the budget comes from taxpayers and would be wisely invested in education, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said on Saturday.
Commenting on the ministry’s proposed budgets, National Federation of Teachers’ Unions president Hou Chun-liang (侯俊良) said that refined education is imperative due to sub-replacement fertility.
The ministry has so far only lowered the student-teacher ratio in kindergartens, he said, adding that the ratio should also be decreased in high schools, and teachers’ wages and the resources for special education should be increased.
It is good for the government to allocate more resources to education, but the budget should be spent as planned to actually benefit teachers and students, National Parent Education Volunteer Association’s Think Bank CEO Wu Fu-pin (吳福濱) said.
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