Teachers’ union downbeat over pension proposal

Staff writer, with CNA

A pension reform proposal that would raise the age of retirement for K12 teachers from 55 to 60 would make it harder for prospective teachers to find work and increase the average age of teachers, a teachers’ union official said.

The proposal represents a moderate improvement to a similar one made by former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, National Federation of Teachers Unions president Chang Hsu-cheng (張旭政) said.

However, such a reform would only extend the life of the pension program for a few more years before it becomes unsustainable, necessitating further reform and forcing young teachers to work in an unstable environment, Chang said.

The reform proposal does not apply to teachers at private schools, head of Taiwan Higher Education Union’s organization department Lin Po-yi (林伯儀) said.

Teachers at private colleges and universities account for about 60 percent of all teaching staff in higher education, but the income replacement rate of their pensions is less than 30 percent, much lower than their counterparts in public institutions, Lin said.

As a result, the national conference on pension reform, which is scheduled to take place today, would neither facilitate real dialogue nor achieve consensus, Lin said.