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Universities too numerous and too expensive: groups

Student and teacher groups gathered yesterday to discuss social problems that have surfaced due to the rise of tuition fees in schools and the prevalence of college degrees, blaming the lack of government educational funds and the failure of educational reforms for the problems.

Li Chun-ta (李俊達), a student at Soochow University and a member of the Youth Labor Alliance, said that he came from an economically challenged single-parent family and was forced to rely on student loans to cover the high costs of his college tuition.

"I have no choice. I need higher education, or else I won't be able to find a job. People with masters degrees are all over the place," Lee said. "Graduate school tuition fees will be even more of a burden for me in the future. I am already deeply in debt."

Kuo Ching-chun (郭清圳), director of the Laborers' Parents Association (基層勞動家長協會), called student loans a government sham to hide the gap between the rich and the poor.

"Our children should do what they can afford. If they cannot afford a college education, they should find other types of work," said Kuo, a driver with only an elementary school degree. "Education is expensive and overrated."

According to Chi Li (齊力), a professor at the Taipei Municipal University of Education, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has been limiting the number of students that enroll in the school as a method of lowering the unemployment rate of future teachers.

"The MOE is being irresponsible. The unemployment problem of certified teachers will not disappear just by limiting the number of students enrolling in the school," Chi said.

Chi also said that the MOE is allowing the marketization of tuition, meaning that college tuition is now decided by the market, causing tuition to rise much too quickly in recent years.

Huang Chih-cheng (黃致誠), director of public affairs at the National Teachers' Association, said that the government was not setting aside enough education funds.

In addition, the already limited funds given by the central government were often used inappropriately by local governments, Huang said.

"Often, part of these funds are spent elsewhere as local governments don't want to invest too much in education," Huang added.

Huang also blamed the failure of educational reforms for the abundance of college degrees and said that the reforms lifted the previously strict regulations regarding the establishment of universities and allowed many technological institutes to transform into private universities, causing the number of private institutions to rocket.
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