A group of parents from Green Island (綠島) yesterday petitioned the Control Yuan, saying that students of Taiwan proper have denied many of their children a special right to free higher education for residents of the island who agree to serve as teachers there for a minimum of five years after graduation.
The parents held a press conference at the Legislative Yuan, led by Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠), PFP legislator for Green Island. They then proceeded to the Control Yuan, seeking an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the introduction 31 years ago of the regulation granting the right and demanding a stricter interpretation of it in future.
An Ministry of Education (MOE) official who attended the press conference said yesterday that the MOE intended to amend the regulation, but did not elaborate on what form the amendment would take.
The parents complained that outsiders usually deny their children their special right to opportunities to attend teacher training colleges and universities without taking the entrance exam.
In 1971, the MOE introduced a special regulation concerning high school students from Taiwan's offshore islands and the Joint College Entrance Exam (JCEE).
The regulation entitles residents of the islands to an opportunity to undergo higher education for free and without taking the JCEE on condition that they return to their island of origin to teach at local elementary schools, junior high schools or senior high schools for at least five years upon graduation.
But the criteria for eligibility are loose. To be eligible, the student or any one of his or her parents or grandparents must have been registered in the island for more than five years.
All Taiwan citizens are required to have a "household registration" but, despite the name, the locality of this registration can be changed if the registered person has a job or a house or attends a school in the desired locality.
In addition, there is an alternative exam for these students, results in which are used by officials to determine a candidate's major and higher education institution. It is much less competitive than the JCEE, in which students compete for places at the most prestigious institutions.
Cheng Bi-hsiang (鄭碧香), a parent said, "It is rather ironic... that the students who enjoy this advantage are usually not local kids."
Cheng Ming-hsian (鄭銘顯), a representative of Green Island residents on Taitung County Council, said that outsiders "just need to re-register in Green Island for five years or more to be qualified. It's that easy," he said.
Cheng said that, according to data from the Taitung County Government, there are usually between four and six vacancies for free education, "two-thirds to all of which are taken by outsiders."
Wu Jung-feng (吳榕峰), director of the MOE Taichung office's First Division attended the press conference and said that the regulation was established not only to benefit students from Taiwan's islands but also to encourage teachers to serve in places to which recruitment is otherwise difficult.
The number of opportunities for free education varies from year to year, depending on the projected teacher staffing requirements on the islands. Sometimes no free education places are offered.
"This regulation will be amended and appended under the University Law (大學法) later this year," said Wu Jung-feng (吳榕峰), director of the MOE Taichung Office's First Division. "We understand these parents' arguments."
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