In an attempt to broaden education opportunities, Minister of Education Kirby Yung (楊朝祥) yesterday announced that in September a program for the creation of community-based senior high and senior vocational high schools is to be launched.
The program will coincide with the abolition of the competitive senior high school entrance examinations and is aimed at breaking down a long-standing trend of fierce competition between junior high students vying for admission into so-called "star" senior high schools.
Such institutions have good reputations because of the high admission rate of their students to Taiwan's universities.
"The major purpose of this program is to encourage students to go to senior high or senior vocational high schools in their communities," Yung said.
The ministry wants senior high schools and senior vocational high schools to reserve 60 percent to 80 percent of their openings for students from the communities in which they are located, Yung said.
He added, however, that the program will be carried out on a voluntary and progressive basis.
The ministry does not expect all senior high schools to join the program immediately and thus will let the schools with "special needs" enjoy flexibility in deciding the percentage of openings to be reserved for local students, he said.
"Owing to historical reasons, some schools tend to attract students from other regions," Yung said, referring to the "star" schools. "The flexibility is reserved to cope with this situation."
To encourage students to respond to the programs, Yung said, scholarship opportunities will be made available for students opting to stay in their communities, while there will also be tuition-fee subsidies for students studying in private schools.
Huang Cheng-chieh (黃政傑), director of the ministry's Department of Technological and Vocational Education -- and also in charge of the new program -- expressed optimism for the initiative.
The changes in senior high school and university admissions will remove the need for students to feel they must attend a "star school," where they will be subjected to intense competition from their peers. The senior high school entrance examination is set to be abolished after it is held for the very last time in July 2000.
In the future, admission opportunities will be increased for students seeking senior high school placements through recommendation and application procedures, based on their records in junior high schools, Huang said.
"Students will enjoy more opportunities to attend senior high schools in their community," Huang said. Similar reforms will also be applied to admission to universities starting September 2002, he added.
Meanwhile, Yung said the program is also intended to promote more interaction between schools and their communities.
To this end, curriculums at community-based senior high and senior vocational high schools will reflect the characteristics of their communities, Yung explained.
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