Universities need international profile boost, report says

A majority of the international students in Taiwan believe that the nation’s higher education system has a low international profile, research conducted by the Ministry of Education suggested yesterday.

A report publicized on the ministry’s Web site showed that African students studying at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology and European students at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology said they had had limited access to information related to Taiwan’s higher education except information on the Internet.

The research was commissioned by the ministry’s Department of Higher Education and carried out by the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan. Researchers conducted interviews with a total of 240 international students from 24 universities nationwide between March 16 and April 10.

The report cited Canadian students at National Central University as saying that they did not know Taiwan had a representative office in Canada, while some of the foreign students who participated in the research said they did not know where Taiwan was until after they arrived in the nation.

A majority of the interviewees also complained about insufficient information about scholarships offered by the ministry and the universities, while some said they had had difficulty maintaining their living standards because they didn’t receive their scholarships on time, the report said.

Interviewees from a number of universities said their schools, particularly public universities, did not have enough classes taught in English, the report showed.

Some students complained about the English proficiency of some teachers lecturing in English and about a lack of opportunities to interact with teachers in class, the report said.

“The international students also mentioned that Taiwanese students have a narrow view of the world and appear to be quite introverted, possibly because local students have poor English proficiency,” the report said.

Some international students from Asia expressed concern about studying in Taiwan because nations such as India and Malaysia do not recognize Taiwanese diplomas, the report said.