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TAIPEI – (Taiwan News) – As the Taiwanese government cautiously reopens its economy after more than two months of restrictions to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak, foreign workers, and especially foreign teachers, have been left out side without explanation and with little means of help from the country which once opened its arms to them.
Since the introduction of Level 3 restrictions in May, the livelihoods of many Taiwanese working in affected industries are on the verge of collapse, with entertainment venues closed and restaurants banned. Ailing businesses also include bac schools, where Taiwanese elementary and secondary school students and even toddlers spend most of their time.
These educational companies have seen massive layoffs and foreign nationals have been among the biggest victims.
Grants for whom
“The current policy disproportionately affects the foreign community, and hiring foreigners has been at a disadvantage during the pandemic,†said Daisy, who has lived in Taiwan for 13 years and is the principal of a private English school in Taipei. She used a pseudonym for fear of government reprisals.
The policy she mentioned is the government’s effort to help people withstand the financial impact of COVID-19 restrictions. According to the requirements, registered special schools and extracurricular day care centers that have been forced to close are entitled to a one-time subsidy based on the number of employees and whether or not they receive the minimum wage.
Each employee is eligible to receive up to NT $ 40,000 (USD 1,430).
However, the policy specifically excludes foreign employees without a Foreign Permanent Resident Certificate (APRC), which can usually be obtained after a foreigner has lived in the country legally and continuously for five years. At Daisy’s school, most of the employees are foreigners, including 20 foreign teachers.
“Foreign staff are better paid because of their higher cost of living in Taiwan, which means they also pay more taxes,†Daisy said. “And they also pay EI, so it makes no sense why they would be disqualified [from] get help from the government. “
MOE responses
When asked why foreigners without an APRC were not eligible for assistance, the Ministry of Education (MOE) told Taiwan News that the decision follows the standard of other branches of government while taking into account limited budget.
What also frustrates Daisy is the unhelpful attitude of government officials and what she feels is a lack of progress towards returning to normal classes. Although her school continues to take classes online, she has seen enrollment drop from 575 pre-restricted students, including those enrolled in summer camp, to 261 currently.
Many parents didn’t think an online summer camp made sense and requested a full refund by July.
After July 13, kindergartens and secondary schools remained banned from operation while the central government allowed cinemas, gymnasiums and dining outlets to reopen with strict coronavirus prevention guidelines in place. At a press conference, the head of the Continuing Education Department of the Ministry of Education, Huang Yueh-li (黃月麗), explained that the close contacts between teachers and high school students are the main reason for the extended ban.
A collapsing industry
After more than two months of closure, many owners of special schools have started selling their businesses. The number of schools for sale in the country has nearly doubled over the past month, said Hsieh Chih-fang (è¬æ™ºèŠ³), director of the Association for After-School Education.
According to Hsieh, only about 2,000 of the country’s 12,000 cram schools that have applied for the grants have received the money so far, as government officials have been overwhelmed by the influx of applications. Compared to workers in other industries, who have relied primarily on their profiles in the EI system to claim allowances, owners of bac schools must first ensure that all of their employees have been registered in the centralized management system, which could further slow down demand. treat.
He also disagreed with the decision to leave out full-time foreign employees.
Actual price of education in Taiwan
What many don’t realize is the time and effort some foreigners have spent teaching in Taiwan, Daisy said. “I know that sometimes bac schools have a bad reputation in Taiwan, but our school works very hard to make sure that everything is done according to the rules, and all of our teachers are really academically trained.”
Many of them had to fill out months of paperwork to obtain work visas from abroad prior to their arrival, but due to current restrictions, they cannot change jobs or even obtain appropriate residence certificates from the immigration agency, which Daisy’s eyes make Taiwan far less favorable to foreigners than he describes himself.
Saying that she sympathizes with the anxiety and frustration of children, who are wondering when they will be able to return to school to see their friends and teachers, Daisy hopes the government will soon have concrete plans to reopen schools in bac before they all go bankrupt. , including the vaccination of teachers. His school still pays the full salaries of its employees and has not fired anyone since May.
On July 7, Taipei began vaccinating teachers who work in kindergartens and public day care centers in preparation for their reopening on July 19. However, no such arrangement has been made for secondary schools and their struggling teachers.
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