MOE uses land lease revenue to help students

MOE uses land lease revenue to help students

The soccer team of the Li-ming Elementary School in Taichung City won the championship for the National Junior Cup and was a runner-up for the International Youth Soccer Tournament, earning the right to represent Taiwan at the Chilliwack Youth Soccer Tournament in Canada. However, the team could not go due to lack of funds.

MOE Minister Tu Cheng-sheng then decided to grant the soccer team a NT$400,000 subsidy from the Ministry's Financial Aid Fund so that the school's talented players could go abroad and bring back greater honor to Taiwan.

Among the team members, three kids came from single-parent and low-income families and the MOE also gave them study and sports scholarships that ranged from NT$30,000 to $70,000.

The MOE has earmarked an annual budget of NT$400 million for prizes, subsidies and solatiums and the number of recipients has reached about 80 thousand students. The funds came from the revenues generated through the public bidding for the use of government-owned land in Taichung City. The land, originally earmarked for education and was in the seventh re-zoning phase, was leased out to many top enterprises, among them, the Lingarden Hotel, Far Eastern Department Store, and Sweeten Construction Company. The revenue from the rents was used to help the students.

This year, the MOE plans to rent out land near the High Speed Rail's Wurih stop in Taichung County. Government-owned land in its fifth re-zoning phase in Tainan and another property in Kaohsiung that is in its 44th re-zoning phase will also be leased out. Those interested may contact the MOE's Central Region Office of the General Affairs Section. Contact Number: 04-23393101 ext. 3324 or ext. 3328