Taiwan's Higher Education--Initiatives to Improve

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TAIPEI 002768 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/TC, EAP/PD PLEASE PASS AIT/W E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON KPAO SCUL SOCI TW SUBJECT: Taiwan's Higher Education--Initiatives to Improve Quality and Internationalization REF: A) TAIPEI 002252 B) TAIPEI 02747 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Taiwan's higher education system has grown rapidly in the past ten years, leaving it over-expanded and under-funded. Educators and employers have recognized the need for higher education to improve in quality and become more internationalized if Taiwan is to develop a more sophisticated research and development capability. In response, the Ministry of Education and other government agencies have announced a number of policy initiatives, including scholarship programs for more Taiwan students to earn graduate degrees overseas and for foreign students to pursue degrees in Taiwan. Cooperation between institutions and the private sector is also improving. The PRC is increasingly a competitor for top local and foreign students, but Taiwan has not yet made a significant effort to position itself as a regional leader in education for the Asia-Pacific region. End summary. -------------- Issues After a Decade of Reform -------------- ¶2. (U) Despite more than a decade of reforms, Taiwan's education system continues to be criticized for its inability to address the needs of a rapidly changing society and economy. There are complaints that reforms have been inconsistent and politically driven, varying too much with the frequent changes in Ministry of Education leadership. This report analyzes current issues with the education system, including expansion of higher education, quality of graduates, funding, the need for internationalization, and cross-straits competition. Ref B addressed Minister of Education Tu's particular role in the reforms; the current shortages of skilled high-tech workers will be discussed septel. ¶3. (U) During Taiwan's democratization in the early 1990s, academics and politicians began to question the education system's emphasis on exams and rote learning, and the lack of widespread access to higher education. These concerns led to a program of reform, intended to open higher education to a larger percentage of society and to assist Taiwan's transition from a manufacturing to a knowledge- based economy. Curricula at all levels were also changed to reflect greater emphasis on Taiwan history and culture, and schools were permitted to choose which textbooks they would use. In addition, the university entrance exam system was replaced in 2002 with a multiple-channel admissions system that provides some flexibility in university applications. -------------- Oversupply Leads to Lower Quality -------------- ¶4. (U) One reform that had a particularly powerful and long- lasting impact on Taiwan's higher education was the relaxation of legal requirements for opening universities. The primary issue facing Taiwan's education system is an excess of supply in higher education, caused by a flood of new institutions opening their doors in the 1990s and early 2000s, and a sharp increase in the number of post-secondary students that resulted from these relaxed requirements. The table below shows the increase in institutions and students over the past seven years: 1997-1998 2004-2005 Number of junior colleges, four-year colleges, and universities 139 159 Total students in junior colleges, four-year colleges, and universities 856,000 1.28m Number of four-year colleges and universities 78 139 Total students in four-year colleges and universities 422,321 1.05m The most dramatic increases have been in the number of four- year colleges and universities and in the number of students attending them, which more than doubled. This change is the result of many junior colleges upgrading to colleges and universities without sufficiently improving their faculty or curricula. The astonishing increase in number of schools and number of students has affected the quality of teaching and research, as well as the quality of graduates entering the workforce. ¶5. (U) While this increase currently provides a growing pool of university graduates for the labor market, the situation is projected to change in coming years. The population of Taiwan is aging along with that of the rest of East Asia. Taiwan's total fertility rate (average number of births per woman) is currently 1.2, among the lowest in the world, and its population is projected to drop by three percent over the next fifty years. The Council of Economic Planning and Development has projected that if Taiwan's colleges and universities maintain their current number of places, they will experience a shortfall of more than 60,000 students per year when children born today are ready for college. This phenomenon has already started to appear. Some institutions are already having trouble recruiting enough students to fill their classes. The MOE recognizes the need to stop growth, and has moved from a policy permitting expansion to one encouraging consolidation of schools by the creation of joint campuses and programs. Despite this policy, new schools continue to be proposed. The MOE has recently received more than twenty applications for new private colleges or universities, but has not approved any. ¶6. (SBU) As a result of the rapid expansion of higher education, there has been a perceived decline in the quality of education and of graduates entering the work force. The loosening of restrictions on the establishment of universities and colleges meant that many private institutions opened quickly and sought to increase revenues by increasing enrollment. According to former Ministers of Education Dr. Jong-Tsun Huang and Dr. Ovid Tzeng, and Dr. Wu Jing-jyi, executive director of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Taiwan's Fulbright foundation),the quality of teaching at these institutions has declined. Faculty face heavier course loads and more administrative work, leaving less time for research and publications. There are not enough highly qualified professors to meet demand, and it is also difficult to attract professors from overseas due to the lower salaries offered in Taiwan. As a result, universities resort to using less qualified teachers and more adjunct professors. -------------- Elite Students Under-Performing -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Even students at elite universities are perceived as not performing up to their potential. Educators have argued that the recent decline in the number of students from Taiwan studying abroad has had a negative effect on Taiwan's competitiveness. The expansion of educational opportunities in Taiwan has made it less of an imperative for elite students to go overseas for undergraduate or graduate degrees. They may find it easier to stay in Taiwan, and more useful to make local connections for job- hunting after graduation. Dr. Tzeng, now vice-president of Academia Sinica, and Dr. Wu both argue that the quality of students in Taiwan has suffered from the decreased emphasis on study abroad, and from the lack of competition to get into elite overseas universities. ¶8. (U) Taiwan employers have also noted a decline in quality as they begin to employ new graduates. Many refer to Taiwan's youth born in the 1980s as the "strawberry generation" because of their fragility and inability to withstand hardship. Compared to previous generations, these workers are perceived as less dedicated and less willing to make sacrifices for their work. A recent survey of Taiwan companies conducted by the Council of Labor Affairs found that 54% of the companies polled were concerned about the quality and loyalty of recent university graduates as employees. A poll by a large Taipei employment agency found that about half of employers were satisfied with recent graduates, and that on average, a worker from this generation had held three jobs in three years in the job market. -------------- Financial Resources Under Strain -------------- ¶9. (U) With the expansion of higher education came a significant increase in expenditures. Public and private expenditures on higher education jumped from US$3.82 billion in 2000 to US$6.08 billion in 2002. However, spending on higher education is still relatively low in Taiwan, and the requirement that funding be split equally on a per capita basis among all of Taiwan's universities has meant that its most prestigious universities are dramatically under-funded compared with similar institutions overseas. At the flagship National Taiwan University, per capita spending is less than one tenth that at Tokyo University, and one seventh that of Hong Kong University. To remedy this situation, the Ministry of Education has proposed a change in the funding structure, designating nine universities as elite research institutions that would share an additional US$300 million per year in funding to stimulate high-quality teaching and research. The funding is currently awaiting approval by the Legislative Yuan. The MOE is also considering proposals to increase tuition, which has been held at low levels: for undergraduate degrees, average tuition at public universities is around US$800 per semester, and about US$1450 per semester at private schools. -------------- Internationalization a Growing Concern -------------- ¶10. (U) Employers in Taiwan frequently note the difficulty of hiring local staff with the necessary English language skills and perspective to work in an international environment. Educators have ascribed this erosion of language skills and international experience to the decline in students going abroad, particularly in the high-tech sector, where graduates of elite schools are in high demand. These workers find it easier to pursue a masters degree at a Taiwan university while continuing to work, rather than take the time and effort to go overseas to study. Many in the high-tech and education sectors argue that this trend will be detrimental to future innovation in Taiwan's high-tech industries, because they will not be able to benefit from the pool of internationally trained and well-connected scientists and businesspeople that drove the development of the high-tech sector in the 1980s. ¶11. (U) In response to these concerns, the MOE has set a goal of internationalizing the education system, and has started several initiatives to promote both the international quality of study in Taiwan and study abroad. First, the MOE has initiated a program modeled on the JET program in Japan, to improve the teaching of English at primary and secondary levels by hiring native-speaker teachers. Second, it has encouraged universities to create more degree programs taught in English, both to improve Taiwanese students' English abilities and to attract more international students. These programs include an international MBA program for both international and local students at National Chengchi University, and Ph.D. programs in the sciences for international students at Academia Sinica. ¶12. (SBU) In 2003, the MOE established the Taiwan Scholarship Program to encourage foreign students to come to Taiwan for degree programs. The program grants up to US$ 1000 per month for students in undergraduate and graduate programs: in its first year it funded more than 500 students, and MOE estimates that it will fund almost 1,200 in 2008. Most of the students in the first two years have been from the US, Japan, and South Korea. The MOE also has a separate language scholarship program. Between the two programs, the MOE's goal is to increase the number of foreign students in Taiwan tenfold within ten years. Throughout Asia, there is a trend toward regionalization of education. Students are increasingly going to the PRC to study rather than the US, while Singapore and Hong Kong try to attract students from China, Southeast Asia, and India. According to Rebecca Lan of the Taiwan Scholarship Program, the MOE's primary focus is still on North America, Japan, and Europe. However, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission offers scholarships for overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia to attend schools in Taiwan. ¶13. (U) Despite these programs, lack of recognition of Taiwan's universities in the international academic community continues to be a concern. Educators ascribe this problem to insufficient participation by Taiwan academics in international conferences, and the small number of English- language scholarly publications from Taiwan. To increase international standing, the MOE has set two targets: for one of Taiwan's universities to be ranked as number one in Asia in a particular field by 2008, and for one to rank in the top 100 internationally by 2013. ¶14. (U) While Taiwan has traditionally been a major source of foreign students for the US and other English-speaking countries, educators advocating for greater internationalization have argued that Taiwan students should go overseas for graduate study in even larger numbers. In 2004 the MOE started a loan program to fund students in overseas graduate programs. This year the MOE established the Elite Study Abroad project, which will be co-funded by CEPD and the National Science Council. The Elite Study Abroad program will fund up to 1000 students enrolled in specialized overseas graduate programs over the next four years. AIT has also seen increased attention to and funding of the Fulbright program by Taiwan authorities. ¶15. (SBU) Dr. Tzeng of Academia Sinica has said that the MOE is moving in the right direction towards internationalization, but that it is still moving slowly, and could increase its efforts. He recommends that the MOE more actively promote Ph.D students going abroad for at least part of their study, and to make sure they attend elite schools. The American Chamber of Commerce has also recommended that Taiwan encourage overseas study by allowing male students to defer compulsory military service until after the completion of foreign degrees. Additionally, the MOE currently refuses to recognize degrees earned in foreign universities if more than one-third of the degree was earned online or in Taiwan. This restriction does not reflect the current trend toward distance learning, and some educators have argued that it should be abolished. -------------- Insufficient Cooperation with Private Sector -------------- ¶16. (U) Both employers and educators have noted that cooperation between industry and universities to train and recruit highly skilled workers for the high-tech industries has been insufficient to date. Universities have not taken full advantage of opportunities to work with the private sector to establish faculty chairs, curricula, scholarships, and internships. This lack of cooperation has several causes. University regulations make it difficult to hire adjunct professors from industry. The academic system does not reward professors' collaboration with industry unless they produce published results. Furthermore, restrictive labor regulations make summer internships fairly uncommon in Taiwan. ¶17. (U) Despite these obstacles, there is some cooperation taking place. A number of high-tech companies have recently established scholarship programs in the top universities, funding graduate students in exchange for an agreement to work for the company after graduation. Additionally, the MOE recently announced an initiative to increase its funding of technology colleges working with the private sector from NT$300 million to NT$5 billion per year by 2009. -------------- PRC a Growing Competitor in Education -------------- ¶18. (U) Competition with PRC institutions is a growing concern for Taiwan educators. The quality of Mainland China's education system, especially at elite schools, is reported to have improved significantly in recent years. At the same time, however, the system has increased dramatically in size. Between 2001 and 2004 the number of university students more than doubled, from 1.1 million to 2.8 million. The PRC has increased spending on higher education, and universities have also benefited from investment by the IT sector and merger of institutions to conserve resources. ¶19. (U) While some of Taiwan's most promising talent continue to be attracted by work opportunities in China, they also find it an increasingly desirable place to study. Mainland universities come to Taiwan to recruit students, and last month, the PRC announced that it will reduce tuition for Taiwan students to the same level as mainland students, making it even more affordable for them to get their degrees across the Strait. However, Taiwan's MOE has indicated that it does not plan to recognize degrees granted by Mainland schools. A number of Taiwan universities have established executive MBA programs on the Mainland for Taiwan businesspeople living there, but the MOE also refuses to recognize these degrees. The number of foreign students studying in the PRC has also increased sharply in recent years, and it now hosts ten times as many foreign students as Taiwan. ¶20. (SBU) Despite the increasing reputation of education on the mainland, academics in Taiwan such as Dr. Tzeng and Dr. Wu find that the quality of Mainland doctoral programs is still fairly low compared with Taiwan. Dr. Tzeng pointed out that Taiwan's universities greatly benefited from academics trained overseas who returned to Taiwan in the 1980s and 90s. The PRC is only now beginning to develop a similar pool of internationally connected scholars, and has only encouraged them to return on a very small scale. It will take some time for the PRC education system to benefit from their expertise. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶21. (SBU) The primary issue in Taiwan's education system is now quality rather than quantity. Recognizing that a highly educated population is essentially Taiwan's only natural resource, Taiwan's public and academics alike understandably hold extremely high expectations for reform. The rapid growth of higher education in the past ten years has left the system overextended, insufficiently funded and inadequately staffed. To improve the situation, the MOE and institutions must focus on slowing growth while improving the quality of teaching. The MOE should continue to encourage merging of institutions to address the oversupply of places, and focus resources on the selected research universities. Its policies of strengthening science and technology in the top universities and expanding links between academia and industry are excellent long-term strategies and should be continued, especially by removing barriers to internship programs and faculty appointments. The MOE should also continue to expand its programs to send students overseas for graduate study, and to encourage them to return to work in Taiwan. These programs will build the highly skilled workforce that Taiwan's high-tech sector needs to continue to grow. While it is perhaps inevitable that China will attract both local and foreign students away from Taiwan, Taiwan is in a good position to promote itself as a relatively high-quality, low-cost place for students from the Asia-Pacific region to study.