Education

9th SOAS Taiwan Studies Summer School Promises Much Excitement

The News Lens
Date: 2016/07/03
By: TNL Staff

Photo: J. Michael Cole / TNLI

Photo: J. Michael Cole / TNLI

With film, music and politics, this summer’s lineup is one of the best in years.

Tackling themes such as the relationship between music and politics, Taiwan’s music industry, sports and nationalism and the anti-nuclear movement, the 2016 Taiwan Studies Summer School, held July 5-8 at the University of London’s School of Oriential and African Studies (SOAS), promises to be one of the best in years.

The speakers’ list is also impressive: Christopher Lupke, (Washington State University); Ma Shih-fang (Taiwanese Writer and DJ of New98 station); Cora Tao (Taiwan Music Critic); Ma Kuo Kuang (Taiwanese Writer); Chang Tieh-chih (Taiwanese Writer and Critic of Cultural and Political Affairs); Nancy Guy (University of California San Diego); Harry Wu (University of Hong Kong); Chung Chuan (Film Director); Dafydd Fell (SOAS); Chang Bi-yu (SOAS); Charles Chen (SOAS); and Lin Chen-Yu (University of Liverpool).    [FULL  STORY]

34 Taiwan universities make it into QS Asian university rankings

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/14
By: Jennifer Huang and Evelyn Kao

London, June 14 (CNA) A total of 34 universities from Taiwan were included in the 2016 QS 46852142University Rankings in Asia released Monday by the U.K.-based higher education information provider QS.

National Taiwan University (NTU) ranked 21st in this year’s rankings, up one notch from 2015, to remain the country’s highest-rated university in the annual survey.

QS expanded this year’s rankings to include the region’s 350 best universities — 50 more than the previous year.

Taiwan had 12 schools ranked in the top 100, the same as last year, and 30 in this year’s top 300, two more than last year’s 28.

It also had the fourth most universities of any Asian country represented on the list, behind China’s 82, Japan’s 74 and South Korea’s 54, highlighting what QS head of research Ben Sowter described as a good performance.     [FULL  STORY]

Students get say in curriculum reviews

PEER REVIEWS:The amendment also requires the presence of democratically elected student representatives on senior high school disciplinary committees

Taipei Times
Date: May 18, 2016
By: Lin Liang-sheng and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The legislature yesterday passed amendments to the Senior High School Education Act (高級中

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Kuo-shu holds up a placard in the legislature in Taipei yesterday following the passage of the Senior High School Education Act. The placard says that the act consigns non-transparent negotiations on the curriculum guidelines to history. Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Kuo-shu holds up a placard in the legislature in Taipei yesterday following the passage of the Senior High School Education Act. The placard says that the act consigns non-transparent negotiations on the curriculum guidelines to history. Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times

等教育法) to overhaul the review process for the curriculum guidelines, which sparked protests against lack of transparency last year.

The amendments mandate that to improve accountability, the curriculum guidelines evaluation committee should be at the level of the Executive Yuan and its membership must include both governmental and nongovernmental representatives, including students’ representatives, who were not allowed a say previously.

Committee members affiliated with the government cannot exceed one-quarter of the total membership and nongovernmental committee members are to be selected through a process similar to that of the Taiwan Public Television Service Foundation’s board of directors.

The amended law authorizes education-related institutions, schools, legal personnel and groups to submit proposals for curriculum changes, in addition to permanently established governmental organizations dedicated to curriculum research and development.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan High School Hours Ranks First In The World And Generates Different Views

The News Lens
Date: 2016/03/09
Translated and compiled by Yuan-ling Liang

On March 7, Wang Hao-yu, a young councilor of Zhongli District, Taoyuan City, 6284872849_876f573176_zposted on his Facebook page saying that teenagers in Taiwan spend the longest time at school in the world, which is “abnormal.” The average high school hours in Taiwan is 9.5 hours, starting from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., which is even longer than general working hours.

Wang lists the school hours of several countries in his post. In Germany, Japan, Mexico and Canada, the average is six hours; while in the US, UK and Australia it is 6.5 hours. In Argentina, the average is only four hours. Similar cases to Taiwan include South Korea and China with averages of eight and nine hours respectively.

Wang also says that this phenomenon needs reformation because “if students are used to excessive learning hours, in the future, they probably would not dare stand up against their bosses when asked to work overtime.”

Wang’s post has raised discussion. Most people support him, while some do not agree, saying that such pressure is necessary for students.     [FULL  STORY]

University to launch Taiwan’s first ‘multi-specialty’ program

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-25
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

National Tsing Hua University will launch the first “multi-specialty” custom-6737581made undergraduate program in Taiwan, allowing students to learn second or third specialties and still graduate by earning 128 credit hours.

Many students go to universities only to find that they are not interested in the major they chose, but the threshold for changing major or double majors is too high, Tsing Hua University said on Thursday, adding that the “multi-specialty” program is designed to avoid the situation from happening.

The university launched the “double-specialty” undergraduate program in 2006, which has received much acclaim from students, and this year the university will go even further by launching the “multi-specialty” program, the university said.     [FULL  STORY]

Minister slammed over urging students to sing anthem

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 17, 2016
By: Rachel Lin, Hung Tin-hung, Hsieh Chia-chun, Su Meng-chuan and / Staff reporters, with staff writer

Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) on Monday, in a closed-door

Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華)

Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華).  Photo from MOE web site.

meeting with city and county education heads, came under fire for pressuring elementary, junior-high and high schools to require students to sing the national anthem more frequently.

Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) confirmed that Wu had last month told the meeting’s participants that students should sing the national anthem more often and that schools in their jurisdictions should hold a flag-raising ceremony and have students sing the national anthem during this year’s commencement services, adding that Wu’s suggestion was “only a reminder from the ministry, not the meeting’s agenda.”

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was concerned with the practices concerning the national anthem at grade schools, sources said, adding that the Ministry of Education compiled a report on this issue for Ma.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) drew parallels between the incident and Ma’s supposed role in the controversial changes to textbook curriculum guidelines, saying: “The problem is not whether the national anthem should be sung on campus, but whether the president can overtly interfere with education for political ends.”     [FULL  STORY]

Nonresident student numbers hit new high in Taiwan

Taiwan Today
Date: February 1, 2016

Taiwan’s nonresident student numbers hit a record 110,182 in 2015,

Taiwan’s nonresident student numbers are growing on the back of the rising reputation of the country as a top-notch provider of high-quality tertiary education. (Courtesy of MOE)

Taiwan’s nonresident student numbers are growing on the back of the rising reputation of the country as a top-notch provider of high-quality tertiary education. (Courtesy of MOE)

up 17.66 percent from the year before, according to the ROC Ministry of Education Jan. 30.

This group comprised 8.27 percent of enrollment at local tertiary educations, up from 6.9 percent in 2014 and 5.9 percent in 2013. The number of diploma-seeking students rose 16.08 percent to 46,523 during the year.

“The figure surged 62.12 percent compared to 2012, showing that government policies aimed at promoting Taiwan as a top destination for tertiary education is paying dividends,” an MOE official said.

Among the 57.78 percent of nondiploma-seeking students, those from mainland China on short-term courses comprised 53.59 percent, followed by those studying Chinese at 29.29 percent and other programs at 7.47 percent.     [FULL  STORY]

Amendments extend foreign students’ stay in Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-28
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Foreigners coming to Taiwan for training and nationals without

Amendments extend foreign students’ stay in Taiwan

Amendments extend foreign students’ stay in Taiwan

household registration can apply to extend stay in Taiwan to one year in the future under amendments regarding their stay in Taiwan taking effect in the near future, the Ministry of the Interior said on Thursday.

To attract overseas Chinese students and foreign students to stay in Taiwan after they graduate, the MOI said it had passed amendments to regulations governing the stay and residence of nationals without household registration and foreigners, the ministry said.

The amendments will relax the exit of foreigners and nationals without household registration in Taiwan for work or study, extending their time to exit from six months to one year, the MOI said, adding that the amendments also allow foreigners entering Taiwan to receive vocational training and nationals without household registration to apply for extension of stay under the purpose of seeking employment.    [FULL  STORY]

Private universities in Taiwan fighting for life

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-03
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Private universities and colleges on the lower level of Taiwan’s higher

Private universities in Taiwan fighting for life.

Private universities in Taiwan fighting for life.

education totem pole have been undergoing a brutal death match. They are faced with a live or die situation from a falling birthrate.

Deep into the night of February 13, 2014, a posting quietly appeared on the website of Kao Fong College of Digital Contents, a private college located in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung county, with the signatures of its then acting president and chair of board, announcing that the school had mapped out plans to close. Although just a few words, the brief announcement actually fired the first shot of a real survival game among Taiwan’s numerous universities and colleges.

Half a year later, Yung Ta Institute of Technology & Commerce located in the same county became the second school to bow out of Taiwan’s higher educational arena.     [FULL  STORY]

CEEC hopes to enact English listening as university admission standard

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-12-31
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The College Entrance Examination Center (CEEC) hopes to assimilate English

CEEC to enact English listening as standard.

CEEC to enact English listening as standard.

listening comprehension tests as part of the requirement when reviewing applications for admissions, reports said Thursday.

The initiative will hopefully go into effect nationwide beginning 2019 at the earliest, or 2021 at the latest in order to comply with the rollout of the nation’s new admission standards.

CEEC deputy director Shen Ching-sung said 80 percent of the nation’s higher learning institutions in Taiwan have decided to include senior high school graduates’ grades in English listening comprehension tests when reviewing their university applications.     [FULL  STORY]