The Ministry of Education’s decision to support nine of the nation’s universities — including three national and six private universities — in raising their tuition fees highlights the deep-seated structural inequality in Taiwan’s higher education system.
The tuition fees of these nine universities are to increase by 1.89 to 2.5 percent, or between NT$550 and NT$1,300 per semester. While the amount may not seem like much to some, the decision may set a precedent that exacerbates the situation of already disadvantaged parents and students.
In the past, the allocation of national educational resources has been tightly controlled by the ministry, favoring public colleges and universities at the expense of private institutions, where the majority of students are from less-privileged backgrounds.
According to ministry statistics, in 2012, funding provided by the government accounted for 52 percent of the total revenue at public colleges and universities, while funding for private institutions only accounted for 11.4 percent. The lack of public funding has led private colleges and universities to rely on tuition fees as their main source of income, accounting for 65.6 percent of their total revenue, compared with 17.8 percent at public institutions.
The ministry’s unequal distribution of resources bears unfavorable outcomes for students at private colleges and universities. According to the ministry, in 2012, colleges and universities spent an average of NT$203,296 on each student. Nonetheless, the amount received by students at public universities was 1.82 times greater than those at private universities, and the amount received by students at public colleges was 1.57 times greater than those at private colleges.
Even though the amount of money received by students at private universities and colleges is less, it does not mean they are likely to receive a low-quality education.
However, the circumstances it creates may make it more difficult for students to get a decent education, despite the good intentions of teachers and school administrators.
For instance, the dwindling birth rate has put pressure on recruitment in schools at all levels, seeing an increase in the hiring of part-time staff. In 2013, the total number of part-time teachers at colleges and universities jumped 30 percent from a decade ago, reaching a record high of 45,943. During the same period, there was only a 5.4 percent increase in the recruitment of full-time staff.
The prevalence of part-time instructors on college campuses has increased the students-per-teacher ratio; an important indicator of teaching quality. In 2013, the students-per-teacher ratio was 5.8 times higher at private colleges and universities than that of public institutions.
These statistics indicate that, under the veneer of a meritocratic appearance based on an exam system, the cultivation of human resources is skewed toward the elite.
Over the years this structural inequality has been unfavorable to those who are already disadvantaged — both economically and educationally — and contributed to the disparity of not only their academic achievement but also their prospects.
As representatives from the Taiwan Higher Education Union, the Alliance Against the Commoditization of Education and the National Alliance of Parents’ Organizations argue, without a corresponding leap in the quality of education on offer and without tackling the unequal distribution of the nation’s education resources at its very core, the tuition hike cannot be justified.
Indeed, it can only be considered as a tax of the poor.
Cheng Shiuh-tarng is a full-time elementary-school English teacher and a part-time assistant professor in Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages’ Department of English.
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