Unlike private colleges and universities in the US, our private institutions of higher education have never considered a purely market-oriented approach toward education. Instead of using quality facilities and high caliber faculty to attract students who are willing to pay expensive tuition, Taiwan's all depend on government subsidies. The ironic aspect of this system is that the Ministry of Education actually has little authority over these institutions.
If it is too difficult to rectify the financial condition of these institutions, the government can at least try to protect the students attending them. When these colleges cannot provide enough dorms on campus and safe housing off campus, the Ministry of Education should have the courage to refuse requests to increase enrollment.
The government's first mistake was allowing the proliferation of colleges and universities. It committed another error when it provided very little attention and supervision. If no effective action is taken now, we can expect an even more pressing financial crisis and deteriorating quality of education among these private colleges. Good intentions for more educational opportunities may end up hurting not just the quality of -- but also people's faith in -- our own educational system. Are you going to do something, Minister Tseng?
Yen Chen-shen is a Research Fellow at the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University.
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