(3109) Government standards for student housing and student loans raise concerns

Government standards for student housing and student loans raise concerns

Reported by Lin Yi-ying

Written by Lydia Ma

A fire that broke out in one of the dormitories of National Dong Hua University in March 2011, which resulted in 1 death and 12 injuries, has raised concerns about the safety of student dormitories.

Taiwan Alliance for Advancement of Youth Rights and Welfare (TAAWRW) underscored that, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education (MOE), 670,000 out of 1.34 million college students in Taiwan live away from their homes and 330,000 of them do not live in on-campus dormitories. Are these students’ living quarters safe?

According to TAAYRW, many apartments rented by students outside but in the vicinity of their schools are unsafe due to lack of functioning fire extinguishers, emergency exits, and other safety mechanisms.

TAAYRW reported that though the MOE has begun investigations and has also added stricter building safety codes for on-campus and off-campus residences, the lack of financial and human resources has forced many schools to either do nothing or deal with the problem superficially just to pacify the MOE.

There have been reports of student housing apartments that resemble iron huts or whose balconies are merely iron planks added to the side. Some report very poor ventilation where carbon monoxide poisoning from stoves is inevitable.

Due to concerns about building safety and budget constraints, students at Dong Hua University experienced a bumpy start this fall when classes resumed on September 26, 2011 because their dormitories were not yet ready. In the end, living arrangements were made so that freshmen at Dong Hua could live in nearby universities such as Tzu-Chi University, Dahan Institute of Technology, Taiwan Hospitality and Tourism College, etc.

This last minute arrangement has made campus fellowship meetings a challenge, said PCT College Ministries Hualien Center pastor, Rev. Lin Shi-hau. His office has decided to use vanpool for the time being to get all students to a church near the Dong Hua’s main campus for Sunday worship and weekday cell group activities..

However, safety and daily transportation hassles may not be the only thing that college students need to worry about. The possibility that college students may still be paying back their student loans when they are 75 years old has raised more than a few eyebrows lately.

In an attempt to alleviate the financial pressures students face upon graduation, especially those who made it through college through the help of student loans, President Ma recently announced that the deadline to fully pay back loans may be extended to 43 years after graduation.

In response, Anti-Poverty Alliance members called a press conference on September 21, 2011, and underscored that the only way to help alleviate the pressures of paying back loans is by allowing students to pay back their loans according to their financial ability to pay and increasing the number of student grants and loans would help alleviate the pressures of paying back loans.

Anti-Poverty Alliance Convener Chien Hsi-chieh underscored that though President Ma had said he’d extend the time frame to pay student loans to 43 years, the idea is still absurd. “Who, in their 70s, still pays their student loans? “ he asked.

He added that, under dire circumstances, credit card debts that reach court mediation stage with banks are only good for up to 8 years, after which debts will be forgiven. It doesn’t make sense to have young people carry this burden for 43 years, especially since young people these days care a lot about having good credit.