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Germany signs academic pact

Taiwanese and German officials yesterday signed an agreement to promote academic and educational exchanges aimed at improving higher education.

At a ceremony in Taipei yesterday, representatives of the German Rectors' Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz, HRK) signed an agreement with the Association of National Universities of Taiwan, the Association of Private Universities and Colleges Taiwan and the Association of Private Universities and Colleges of Technology Taiwan.

Seven HRK representatives have been visiting various higher-education institutions in Taiwan over the past five days. The German delegation consists of experts from various academic fields, including science, engineering, law, the humanities, music and medicine.

Local education officials have hailed the signing of the cooperation agreement as a breakthrough in academic collaboration between the two countries.

"[This] agreement targets the promotion of educational exchanges between teaching staff, academics, students and researchers of our two countries," Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) said at the ceremony.

The Ministry of Education has pledged its full support to the agreement, which also seeks to encourage German and Taiwanese students to visit each other's countries.

In his address at the ceremony, German Institute in Taipei Director-General Ulrich Dreesen said that academic exchanges would lay the foundation for exchanges on many other levels, such as culture and trade.

The agreement places an emphasis on establishing a system in which academic credits can be transferred between the two countries, as well as regulating admissions standards between Taiwanese and German institutions.

Both sides have also agreed on a system to regulate the recognition of degrees obtained in either country, especially in the fields of music, the arts and legal studies.

One of the articles in the agreement stipulates that a host institution for exchange students should provide the home institution with a statement documenting the courses the student has completed. Cooperating institutions should also implement the necessary procedures and standards to allow for the systematic recognition of courses completed at an overseas institution.

The basis for admitting individual students will have to be hammered out between the home and host institution, with each taking into account the applicant's achievement record, goals and the compatibility of courses to be undertaken.

Prospective students should also demonstrate an appropriate level of competence in the language of instruction at their host institution.

Students taking part in exchange programs will also have the opportunity to engage in work-study and intern programs, which will be arranged by the institutions involved.

The HRK represents universities and other higher education institutions in Germany. The association has 262 member institutions, encompassing approximately 98 percent of all students enrolled in registered higher-education institutions in Germany.
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