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Colleges mull group to lobby for PRC students

A number of private universities are mulling an alliance to lobby legislators for several bills that would allow universities to recruit students from China.

At a conference held by the Association of Private Universities and Colleges on strategies to recruit students from China, Shih Hsin University president Lai Ting-ming (賴鼎銘) said proposed amendments to related legislation had come to a standstill because of opposition from “certain” legislators.

He did not specify which legislators, but said private universities in Taiwan must “fight to the death” to make legislators realize that Taiwan has an edge in attracting Chinese students.

Chinese Culture University president Yang Tai-shun (楊泰順) urged the legislature to pass proposals to let universities recruit students from China, saying Taiwan must be proactive as many countries are competing for China’s brightest students.

DORMITORY SPOTS

Yang said the university had set aside as many as 300 spots in its dormitories to accommodate Chinese students.

The Education and Culture Committee and the Internal Administration Committee of the legislature were scheduled to review amendments related to the matter on a number of occasions during the spring legislative session, but all of the reviews were boycotted by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators.

DPP lawmakers said recruiting Chinese students could ultimately infringe on the rights of Taiwanese students.

NO SCHOLARSHIPS

The Ministry of Education has promised to deny Chinese students benefits such as scholarships and work permits that would allow them to stay and seek jobs after graduation.

Fu Jen Catholic University president Bernard Li (黎建球), who presided over the conference, said the debate over whether to recruit Chinese students had long been dominated by “ideology.”

Li said private universities were eyeing the top 1 million high school graduates in China, not students with poor academic performance, and recruitment would not simply be a way to resolve difficulties filling enrollment vacancies.
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