In a report on talent development conducted by the Ministry of Education’s Talent Development Association, which is composed of Academia Sinica academician Liu Chao-han and other fellow researchers, it warns that after 2028 the number of students starting university will decrease by half to only around 167,000 students. Taiwan’s overall strength as a nation will diminish significantly in the future if university students’ productivity fails to go up 1.5 times higher. Coupled with an aging population — 20 percent of the population will be over the age of 65 by 2026 — in order for Taiwan to continue growing and developing as a nation, the productivity of Taiwanese university graduates must be at least twice as high as now in 15 years.
According to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, more than 320,000 children were born each year in 1994 and 1995. Children born during these two years are the source of university students enrolling in college this year. However, the source of students starting university in 2028 are children born in 2009 and 2010, but only 190,000 and 160,000 were born during these two years respectively, which is little more than half the number of children being born 15 years ago. The social problems arising from a low fertility rate will become even more serious after 2028.
The report also says that the number of universities in Taiwan has seen a sharp increase, going from 51 in 1993 to 148 this year, and university admission departments are currently trying to enroll a total of 274,000 new students, which exceeds the number of students actually graduating from high school — 270,000. This means that every student has the opportunity to go to college, but it also means that colleges cannot enroll enough students to meet capacity. This will turn higher education into a form of universal education. When looking at the number of students enrolled in universities last year — 1.25 million — the amount of talent being developed is three times higher than it was 15 years ago, but still fails to meet societal and business demands.
Photo: Wang Shan-yen, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者王善嬿
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
由中研院院士劉兆漢等學者專家組成的教育部人才培育指導會,在所提出的人才培育報告書中發出警訊,民國一一七年後,大學生源將降至今年的一半,只有十六萬七千人,未來大學生的生產力若不能提升一點五倍,則台灣整體國力將下降;加上高齡化、一一五年六十五歲以上人口將達百分之二十,估計十五年後大學畢業生的生產力必須是現在的兩倍以上,台灣才能持續發展。
據內政部統計,八十三、八十四年的新生兒出生人數均在三十二萬人以上,這兩年的出生人數決定今年的大學生源;而決定一一七年大學生源的出生年度則是九十八、九十九年,這兩年出生數分別是十九萬人、十六萬人,與十五年前相較減少近半,少子化帶來的社會問題將在一一七年後更加嚴重。
報告書也直指,台灣的大學校院由民國八十二年的五十一所,劇增到今年的一百四十八所,大學部新生總招生名額為廿七萬四千名,已超過高中職每年畢業生總人數廿七萬人,不只人人可以上大學,學校還招不滿,高等教育變成普及教育,但以一○一學年度總在學人數一百廿五萬人來看,培育多三倍的大學人力,卻未能反應社會與產業的需求。
(自由時報記者林曉雲)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110