Although it's been 10 years since educational reform was implemented, a correction order issued by the Control Yuan yesterday found that the quality of Taiwan's higher education had reverted to the level of 15 years ago.
The Control Yuan's education committee yesterday announced an investigation report to correct the Ministry of Education (MOE) for the deteriorating quality of higher education over the past decade, pointing out that educational resources available to each university student had reverted to the level of 15 years ago as the budgets for higher education recorded a negative growth since 1994.
"The MOE failed to increase the budget for higher education in line with the rapid growth of college students, which led to a situation in which educational resources were seriously watered down," Control Yuan investigator Chao Jung-yao (
According to statistics cited by Chao, in 1993 about 690,000 students were enrolled in 125 universities and colleges, and that by 2003, the number of universities and colleges had increased to 167, with the number of students expanding 84 percent.
Meanwhile, the ratio of students to professors was 14 to 1 in 1993, with the figure rising to 20 to 1 in 2003.
The higher ratio directly impacted students' educational rights, Chao said.
Each student was allotted only about NT$160,000 of educational resources in 2001, which was the level of 1989. The allotment peaked in 1996, with each student having NT$210,000 to use.
"It is a worrying situation that students have fewer educational resources to use even though they passed the college entrance examination," Chao said.
Additionally, Chao said, the number of people with bachelors degrees has increased by 192 percent, the number of people graduating with masters degrees has increased 333 percent and people with doctoral degrees rose by 180 percent over the past 10 years.
Although the Ministry of Education has proposed a "bow out mechanism" to phase out those schools that are less competitive and encourage schools to merge, the formula for the mechanism is not clear and the result has been poor so far, Choa said.
Chao added that the MOE had also failed to revise related education laws and conduct reforms in the administrative system, which should be corrected by the Control Yuan.
Meanwhile, the Executive Yuan also faced a correction order from the Control Yuan for a rise in the adult illiteracy rate.
Three percent of all people over the age of 15 in Taiwan are illiterate, according to another investigation report announced by the Control Yuan yesterday.
The report said that governments at all levels have not paid enough attention to the issue. As well, they have not allocated enough resources for lifelong learning with the result that around 548,000, or 3 percent, of those over 15 were illiterate in 2003, lagging far behind the 2 percent rate seen in industrialized countries.
Outlying islands and agricultural counties have the highest illiteracy rates. The rate in Lienchiang is 7.75 percent and Kinmen sits at 7.4 percent. In agricultural areas such as Yunlin County it is 6.6 percent, both Changhua and Chiayi are at 6.12 percent, and Kaohsiung County has a 4.55 percent illiteracy rate.
For this reason, the Control Yuan censured the Executive Yuan for gross negligence.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS