Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) yesterday said that the nation’s universities would have to downsize by at least 10,000 faculty members by 2023 to deal with rapidly declining student numbers.
The idea is not to just close some universities, but to clearly see the big picture and resolve how at such a time, Wu said.
By the start of the 2016 school year, there will be 30,000 fewer students than now, which will reduce the demand for teachers, Wu said.
An expected increasing staff shortage will force the government to downsize, while requiring workers to produce twice the amount of products or services that individuals do today, Wu said, adding that declining birthrates would also create national security concerns.
There would be a surplus of educational facilities for the nation’s small population, which would mean the merger or closure of some facilities, Wu said.
No more than 1,500 new instructors have begun to work at universities nationwide, but Taiwan currently graduates more than 4,000 individuals with doctorates each year, Wu said.
The nation cannot shoulder such a great disparity between educational supply and demand, he said.
While downsizing is inevitable, the ministry must take care to provide for those made redundant, since they have areas of expertise, adding that graduates with doctorates should be steered toward the corporate sector to utilize their professional knowledge.
The corporate sector is not the only choice for college graduates and becoming entrepreneurs is also an option, Wu added, as he urged faculty members to focus on students’ future development, rather than concentrating solely on their own research.
National Chengchi University (NCCU) president Edward Chow (周行一) said the corporate sector often worries about whether graduates will be able to easily make the transition to corporate life, but it is not academia’s job to provide such personnel.
Taiwanese corporations need to consider what their definition of “talent” is, Chow said, adding that international corporations do not necessarily hire people who they think will seamlessly segue into their new jobs.
If local corporations are seeking to reduce the costs of human resources, businesses will not find any talented individuals, Chow said.
However, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) said academia should revise its attitudes and ask itself what it can do for society, adding that a large amount of the funding given to the Program for Teaching Excellence is being misused.
The Ministry of Education must be a positive model for academia and help steer academics into choices that benefit society, Hsu said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost