Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) yesterday urged the Kinmen Institute of Technology (KIT) to further globalize its teaching and development so as to make it the locomotive of education in all of the nation's outlying islands.
At the inauguration of the institute's new dormitory, Tu said the institute should strive to attract more young people from Kinmen families who have emigrated to return to Kinmen to study.
Should Kinmen succeed in attracting more young people from Kinmen families living abroad, it will also contribute to the island's economic development and investment, as the arrival of students will bring about closer ties and exchanges, Tu said.
Meanwhile, Tu said, Taiwanese businesspeople working in China can send their children to study at the institute.
The institute also offers an ideal opportunity for China-based Taiwanese businesspeople who want to pursue further studies, such as for EMBAs, Tu said.
According to Tu, the institute became operational in the autumn of last year. Of the students who registered last year, 93 percent were from Taiwan proper, while only 7 percent were from Kinmen and Matsu.
In addition to Tu, a number of officials and local government leaders, including Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (
Lee suggested that the institute also open its doors to students from China, so that democracy can be channeled into China via education.
In response to Lee's suggestion, the education minister said that this idea would have an impact on the country's China policy and that its implementation would have to be cleared by the Mainland Affairs Council.
The Ministry of Education paid for the construction of the dormitory, which cost NT$101.86 million (US$3.28 million) to build.
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