Education minister says new entrance exam stays

Minister of Education Huang Jong-tsun (黃榮村) yesterday vowed that the government will not reinstate the Joint College Entrance Examination (JCEE).

"It is unlikely we will go back to the JCEE, [because] the Diversified College Enrollment Scheme is definitely the chosen path," Huang told legislators.

The minister added in a month the ministry would come up with measures to tackle the problems caused by the new initiative.

The JCEE -- a test that for 48 years determined which university senior high school students would attend -- became a part of history in July last year and was replaced by the Diversified College Enrollment Scheme.

But the new program has come under fire in its first year as students complain it fails to alleviate academic pressure.

Parents say that the system is too complicated to understand and their children are having a difficult time adapting themselves to the de-standardized textbooks.

A survey released by the DPP on Tuesday showed only 20 percent of the respondents were in favor of the new scheme, whereas 60 percent of them suggested the government restore the JCEE.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) also commented on the new program, saying on Tuesday that "whatever needs to be corrected should be corrected and whatever needs to be changed should be changed."

Under the diversified enrollment scheme, all students will be required to take a competency test in February but can retake it in April if they are not satisfied with their initial grade.

Students have to formally apply to a university or submit a recommendation from their school as well as submit their competency test scores. Schools will write recommendations for only the best students while the rest will fill out applications.

Universities will then use the criteria -- the test score and the written application or recommendation -- to decide which students to accept.

Rejected students will be able to take a "designated course examination" after which they can apply again.

The second exam is in July and is equivalent to the Joint College Entrance Examination.

Vice Minister of Education Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠) said the new initiative was introduced after the effectiveness of the JCEE had been questioned for 10 years. Acknowledging that the diversified enrollment scheme has room for improvement, she said that the government will not go back the old system.