wfn.org | TCN: Christian schools help students forced to suspend studies amid financial crisis

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>2973 Edition

>February 16~22, 2009

Christian schools help students forced to suspend studies amid financial  crisis

Reported by Chen Wei-jien, Chen Yi-shuan, Lin Yi-ying

>Written by Lydia Ma

As students head back to school after their winter vacation, many  parents are facing furloughs or being laid off from their work due to  the global financial crisis. This situation is now having a spillover  effect on students in Taiwan, creating a school drop-out crisis across  the nation.

Many students in Taiwan are now struggling to pay for their tuition fees  and other school-related expenses and an increasing number have opted to  suspend their studies because their families can no longer afford to pay  for their schooling.

Many aboriginal Taiwanese students, whose financial situation is often  worse than the average Taiwanese living in the city, have already  dropped out of school because their parents lost their jobs. In light of  this trend, many schools affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in  Taiwan such as Chang Jung Christian University, Tam Kang High School,  and Aletheia University are coming to the aid of students. Teachers at  these institutions are donating their consumer vouchers or part of their  salaries to create a bursary so that students will not be forced to drop  out of school because of financial reasons. These universities are also  urging churches to partner with them in reaching out to students who are  struggling financially.

>Quitting school to help family make ends meet

Chiuan Jung-wei, president of the youth fellowship at Salitung Church in  Central Bunun Presbytery, is one of many students in Taiwan who put his  studies on hold because of the financial crisis. Chiuan is the youngest  of ten children at home and began senior high school last year. His  parents rely on odd jobs to make ends meet and were forced borrow money  from friends and relatives to pay for their children’s tuition fees  and cover family living expenses.

Chiuan quit school after two months of senior high school and began  taking up odd jobs in tribal reservations to help his parents. He made  the decision on his own because he saw that his parents were struggling  to find jobs and the family income was unstable.

Since his elder brothers and sisters are also working and some have  their own families to support, Chiuan decided to suspend his studies for  one semester so that he could work and save some money. He said that  once he has enough money to pay for one semester’s tuition fees, he  will transfer to night school so that he can work in the daytime while  going to school at night.

Chiuan does not want to quit school and has applied and received  bursaries from churches in addition to applying for student loans.  However, Chiuan needs money to pay for his living expenses on top of  tuition fees.

Chiuan shared that he complained to God about his circumstances at  first, but after some thought, realized that his situation could open a  whole new chapter in his life and broaden his perspective as well.

Chang Jung Christian University faculty donate money to help students

Chang Jung Christian University President Chen Jin-sheng urged faculty  members to donate their consumer vouchers in an attempt to help students  from low-income families. This donation will be used to help 103  students from low-income families. Faculty members are encouraged to  participate and donate any amount they wish.

Besides consumer vouchers, faculty members can also donate cash or  arrange for small sums to be deducted from their paycheck every month.  The fund will help students pay for tuition fees, textbooks, and other  related school expenses. Chen hopes that small donations made by  university staff will accumulate into a big sum.

According to the university’s Public Relations Center, eight  students have dropped out of school recently, but the number is not much  higher compared to previous years. However, whether these students  dropped out due to financial difficulties is uncertain as the school is  still investigating these cases.

Public Relations Center reported that the school allows students to  apply for study loans and living expenses loans and the latter can  amount to $6,000 NTD at most per month. If students can obtain a signed  letter from their own departments, they can pay some of their school  expenses in installments as well.

Furthermore, the university also helps students who need additional  income find part time jobs and can negotiate with employers to give  students more hours if needed. Public Relations Center is encouraging  students who are struggling financially to seek help and resources from  the school.

Tam Kang High School creates emergency help fund

According to Tam Kang High School, more than forty students have  transferred out of the school this year in contrast to less than 10 in  previous years and the number is more than enough to make an entire  class. When school officials contacted the parents, all of them said  they had transferred their children to public schools. So far, no  students are reported to have simply dropped out of school.

Tam Kang School officials say that private schools derive most of their  income from tuition fees and a lot of them are currently under a tight  budget as many are involved in building projects. Most private schools  focus on helping students secure student loans to pay for their tuition  fees and rarely offer other types of bursaries to help pay for other  school-related expenses.

Nevertheless, Tam Kang High School faculty members are now donating  money every month toward an emergency fund created to help families in  financial crisis. Last semester, the school used the fund to help five  students who lost a parent. The school offers financial aid from this  fund on a case-by-case basis.

>Aletheia University planning subsidies

“Though the current unemployment crisis is making many schools to  lose students, Aletheia University has not been greatly affected.  However, we’ve had three students from our Taipei campus and Ma-Dou  campus fill out forms to suspend their studies because they could no  longer afford to go to school,” said Aletheia University General  Administration Officer Gao Rong-huei. “In the end, the school  allowed them to pay their tuition and other related fees in installments  so that they could remain in school.”

According to Gao, Aletheia University’s vision is to attract  students from middle-income to low-income families. The school has had a  financial aid system in place for a long time. Gao said that many  low-income families can register for free on-campus housing if their  children are admitted to the university and over forty students have  used this service recently.

The school is also offering a bailout fund that students can apply  toward their living expenses on top of providing or introducing  part-time job opportunities.

Through these part-time jobs, students who work in the daytime and  enroll in night school programs can earn about $13,000 NTD (about $375  USD) per month and daytime students who work at night can earn about  $7,000 NTD (about $200 USD) per month. These salaries can pay for a  significant amount of a student’s monthly expenses.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Education passed a legislation one year ago  that would allow students from low-income families to apply for  subsidies that pay some of their living expenses so that they can remain  in school. Furthermore, Aletheia University offers a rebate in  miscellaneous school fees to aboriginal students, children of military  officers, children of pastors, and children of Aletheia staff members.

According to Gao, Aletheia’s ability to plan ahead by providing  various types of financial aid to its students is one of the main  reasons the university has not been severely hit by the current school  drop-out crisis across Taiwan.

********************

Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local languages.

You may translate and re-use the articles if you acknowledge the source  as "Taiwan Church News" and list the names of the reporter and writer.
Visit our web site: http://www.pctpress.org (Chinese)

>http://enews.pctpress.org/ (English)

Please direct comments and questions to: enews@pctpress.org

If links are not working or you desire to receive e-news as plain text  attachments, please let us know. Thank you!

>********************