85 percent of Taiwanese favor education reform to promote independent thinking

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/24
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Over half of Taiwanese believe that attending cram schools is essential for achieving academic success, according to a recent survey conducted by The Professor Huang Kun-huei Education Foundation (黃昆輝教授基金會).

The survey results, released Saturday (Oct. 24) by the non-governmental group, show that 53.3 percent of Taiwanese believe it is necessary for students to reinforce their education at cram schools after regular classes. In contrast, 37.7 percent of respondents said cram schools are not important to a student's success.

Nearly 43 percent of respondents indicated they would choose a high school for their children based on its college enrollment rate, while 49.6 percent said they would not. Close to 62 percent also disagreed with the statement that "higher education leads to better jobs" and only 34.8 percent agreed.

In regard to Taiwan's education climate, 85 percent of respondents are in favor of large-scale reform and a shift from an "exam-focused" approach to one that promotes "independent thinking." A total of 88 percent of Taiwanese also expressed support for the government to designate English as the official second language, while 9 percent opposed it.    [FULL  STORY]