Deputy Minister of Education Lin Tsung-ming (林聰明) confirmed yesterday that the ministry planned to recognize Chinese credentials obtained after 1997.
“Basically [we are considering recognizing credentials] obtained after 1997, but we have not finalized the plan,” Lin said when approached for comment. He did not elaborate.
Lin said the ministry would hold public hearings to gauge public opinion on the matter, adding that the ministry planned to first recognize credentials issued by 41 top Chinese universities that China has provided with extra resources since 1985, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Tianjin University and Fudan University.
At another setting, however, Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) said the ministry would not recognize any medical credentials from China.
Meanwhile, Wu said Taiwanese universities could begin enrolling students from China from June if bills cleared the legislature by the end of the current legislative session.
Wu said public universities would be allowed to recruit only graduate students, while private universities could recruit undergraduates.
Chinese students attending Taiwanese public universities would have to pay the same tuition fees as those at Taiwan’s private universities, Wu said.
The ministry has listed recognition of Chinese credentials and recruitment of students from China as one of the ministry’s major administrative goals since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) came into office last year.
However, proposed amendments to the law have been brought to a standstill because of a boycott by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
In response to the ministry’s plan, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the government’s policy to allow Chinese to study in Taiwan could pose a threat to Taiwanese students’ future employment opportunities and urged the government to carefully assess the situation before opening the nation’s education system to Chinese students.
“In the past few years, allowing Chinese students to come to Taiwan has been a highly sensitive issue because it relates to the competitiveness of Taiwan’s education industry, especially now, when people are having fewer children. We already have too many schools that can’t find enough students,” Tsai said.
Allowing Chinese to study in Taiwan could squeeze local students out of the domestic job market, she said.
She said that cross-strait educational exchanges not only touch upon sensitive political issues, but also expose the public to vastly different values on freedom of thought by both sides.
The DPP government handled the issue with great care, Tsai said, cautioning the administration to do likewise.
Asked for comment, KMT Legislator Cheng Chin-ling (鄭金玲) of the Education and Culture Committee said accepting Chinese credentials and students could serve as a stimulus for Taiwanese universities.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Students Union — an organization of Taiwanese students studying in China — issued a statement criticizing the ministry for only planning to give recognition to credentials from 41 Chinese universities.
The union said the recognition should apply retroactively without limit rather than only for diplomas obtained since 1997.
ADDITONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU
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