Web site offers thousands of jobs for new graduates

MORE THAN AVERAGE:Many employers advertising on Taiwan Jobs are offering high wages for untrained workers with no prior experience, the labor ministry said

Staff writer, with CNA

The Ministry of Labor yesterday said 15,000 full-time jobs for new graduates are being advertised on its Web site offering wages of NT$30,000 per month.

Employers have advertised more than 145,000 positions for new employees who are not required to have any work experience, according to the Web site.

The Web site, called Taiwan Jobs, is managed by the ministry’s Workforce Development Agency.

The job openings are a positive sign for the jobs market with an influx of new graduates.

The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics on Friday said that the unemployment rate for last month rose 0.08 percentage points from a month earlier to 3.92 percent, due to a month-on-month increase in first-time jobseekers of 9,000.

The directorate said that the jobless rate is expected to continue to climb this month and next month before trending lower, as many first-time jobseekers are likely to start work in September.

Employers who are offering more than NT$30,000 per month to new graduates include flat-panel makers Innolux Corp and HannStar Display Corp, as well as High-Life and Family Mart convenience store chains, and fast-food chains McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken, the ministry said.

HannStar, which specializes in the production of small and medium-sized screens, is offering engineers NT$47,000 per month, the ministry said.

The ministry said that more employers are seeking part-time workers, with 30 percent of workers coming from the manufacturing sector and 20 percent from retail, wholesale and restaurant businesses.

Michelin-starred steamed dumpling restaurant Ding Tai Fung is offering NT$150 to NT$170 per hour for part-time workers, higher than the minimum NT$120 hourly wage, the ministry said.

As of the end of last month, employers in Taiwan posted 108,286 job openings on Taiwan Jobs, down by 15.22 percent from a month earlier, while the number of people who signed up for the Web site dropped 0.7 percent month-on-month to 63,342, the ministry said.

Last month, the number of jobseekers aged up to 19 years old increased 111.61 percent from a month earlier, indicating that the summer vacation has increased the supply of available workers, the ministry said.

Curriculum review group convener vilified by KMT

By Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday demanded that the Ministry of Education remove former ministry secretary-general Chuang Kuo-jung (莊國榮) from his post as convener of a curriculum guidelines review committee, citing what the KMT called his past “vulgar remarks.”

At a news conference in Taipei yesterday morning, KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said education is vital for younger generations and is supposed to transcend politics.

“However, Chuang is not only notorious for his often vulgar and preposterous rhetoric, but also for his apparent political affiliations,” Wang said.

Urging the ministry to immediately dismiss Chuang and remove him from the committee, Wang also called on parents to jointly oppose Chuang’s participation in the committee.

Wang said the public would not accept the decision by the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to appoint Chuang, who left the ministry years ago over inappropriate remarks, to serve such a significant post in the committee.

“Chuang is less deserving than elementary and junior-high school students of participating in the process of reviewing curriculum guidelines. Curricula could become unimaginably horrific if we let someone like him be a part of this endeavor or serve as the convener of the committee,” Wang said.

KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Hu Wen-chi (胡文琦) last month at a news conference also criticized the ministry’s designation of Chuang as the committee’s convener.

“A teacher is someone who conveys the truth, passes on knowledge and clarifies doubts. Chuang is unfit for the job in terms of both his words and actions,” Hu said.

Hu said Chuang’s past remarks have proven him to be a man guided by outdated stereotypes and ideologies, hatred and obscene ideas, citing as examples Chuang’s use of terms such as khai tsa boo (開查某), a Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) term meaning “visiting a prostitute,” and xiao naonao (小孬孬), Chinese for “being a pussy.”

Groups defend curriculum convener

IDEOLOGUE:The Taiwan Hakka Society chairman said that the KMT’s ‘one China’ stance meant that the 228 Incident was downplayed in curriculum guidelines

By Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Union of Taiwanese Teachers director-general Hsiao Hsiao-ling yesterday speaks during a news conference in Taipei.

Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

A coalition of pro-localization groups yesterday voiced support for National Chengchi University (NCCU) professor Chuang Kuo-jung (莊國榮), defending him against calls by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) that he should be dismissed as the convener of the Ministry of Education’s curriculum review committee.

Citing “vulgar” remarks Chuang had made regarding former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), and Ma’s father and his political affiliations, KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) on Monday urged the ministry to remove Chuang from his post.

“What is the KMT afraid of?” Northern Taiwan Society Chairman Chang Yeh-sen (張葉森) said at a news conference.

Saying that Chuang befits his job, Chang called on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration not to give in to pressure from the KMT, otherwise it would become a “culprit” for passing up an opportunity for reform.

Taiwan Hakka Society Chairman Li Teng-hsin (黎登鑫) said that the “one China” stance adopted by Ma’s administration saw unification-minded academics such as Wang Hsiao-po (王曉波) and Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) put in charge of developing curricula.

The Ma administration also downplayed the significance of the 228 Incident in curriculum guidelines, he said.

“Taiwanese history should not be based upon the KMT’s China-centric views,” he said.

Union of Taiwanese Teachers director-general Hsiao Hsiao-ling (蕭曉玲) said that education is different from ideologies and that the KMT has attempted to pit its own ideology against education reform.

Chuang was recently named an outstanding teacher by the NCCU, which is largely considered a conservative school, as it was founded by KMT during the nation’s totalitarian past, and the award was “a slap in the face” for the KMT, she said.

Chuang is more than qualified for his post, she said.

National Taiwan University Graduate Student Association president Yu Min-ju (于閔如) said that the KMT had long adopted a “Greater China” historic view, and that it could be plotting to reinstate this view by attacking Chuang.

Education should be based on facts, Yu said, adding that the KMT should make known its desire to create history curricula based on a “Greater China” view and see if people approve of it, rather than attempting to “sneak it in.”

Wang said that the KMT has nothing to fear and is not attempting to obstruct the curricula review process.

“It is astonishing that the DPP has appointed such a “foul-mouthed” and biased person who lacks any discipline in gender equality to serve as the committee’s convener,” Wang said.

She said that out of thousands of candidates, the DPP picked Chuang, adding that society would form its own opinion on whether his appointment was fair.