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LETTERS: Education must meet needs

With all the people looking forward to this month's presidential election, we may start speculating about what new policies the nation's next leader will come up with to invigorate our long-lasting education headache.

Taiwan is in competition with newly emerging regions like Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and China, all of which are ideal for pursuing degrees and absorbing Chinese culture.

While marveling at the lessons to be learned from Northern Europe, we should keep in mind the geopolitical differences between here and there. Instead of merely looking at the figures and charts provided by magazine publishers, we must explore the flaws in Taiwan's education system and create tailored solutions to offer pupils what they really need to perform well in this era of globalization.

Taiwan enjoys unique and convenient transport advantages because of its location. However, Taiwan downplays its geographic and economic strength and confines itself when it comes to educational enhancement and academic exchange.

Taiwan's freedom of speech, mature human rights and outstanding economic growth have supported the preliminary stage for internationalized education. We need a consistent direction for education that is not based on malicious vote competitions between political parties. Instead, we need steps like increasing and financing opportunities for students to study abroad, aid for minority education and steps to bridge academic gaps between Taiwan and other countries.

The Ministry of Education has just adopted a policy whereby colleges and graduate schools that don't pass rigid school accreditation must cease enrollment the following year. This helps to refine department quality and highlight the dichotomy between vocational and academic-oriented institutions.

In short, Taiwan should recognize its standing in the globalized world and enact consistent education policies based on the present patterns of labor demand. There are clusters of graduates eliciting low-paying jobs or jostling for cruelly few genuine career opportunities. Encouraging and assisting them to extend their job-hunt abroad might help as higher pay internationally would help to alleviate the pressure of student loans and they would have the opportunity to accumulate more practical work experience.

A pan-Chinese region is more than likely to emerge in the future and Taiwan's youth must be ready to compete and cooperate with people from Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Vietnam and China.

Whoever becomes the next leader of Taiwan, this year will be a critical time for him and Taiwanese youth to rehabilitate the education in Taiwan and get involved in the global trend.

Edward Lin

Banciao
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