The government needs to adjust its education policy to reflect the growing importance of technical colleges to employment and competitiveness, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) president Liao Ching-jong (廖慶榮) said.
The latest Quacquarelli Symonds ranking of the best 50 universities under 50 years of age had technical colleges in four of the top five spots, Liao said.
“There are too many people with university degrees. In comparison, graduates with degrees from universities of science and technology are harder-working and have the skill sets that businesses need,” Liao said. “In addition, universities of science and technology have stronger links with business, which means their graduates have an even easier time gaining employment.”
Globally, most nations have shifted resources toward developing vocational colleges, because they offer students better employment opportunities, but Taiwan is not keeping up, Liao said.
For example, NTUST has an annual budget of NT$2.9 billion (US$95.2 million), which is greatly exceeded by the vocational colleges that made the top of the Quacquarelli Symonds list, he said.
The top three institutes on the list are Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University with a yearly budget equivalent to NT$19.6 billion; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with NT$17 billion and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology with NT$21.6 billion, he said.
Despite the funding disadvantage and just 447 faculty members, NTUST placed 23rd on the list and 73rd on Time Higher Education’s ranking for employability, he said.
With greater support from the government, Taiwan’s technical universities, which are already punching above their weight, can do even better, Liao said.
However, the Ministry of Education’s higher-education subsidies fund is to make 155 academic and technical institutions split NT$88 billion evenly, while setting aside NT$60 billion that institutes must write bids for, he said.
“The system is forcing institutes to engage in essay-writing contests to fight for funds,” Liao said.
The project that subsidizes the top 12 universities and technical institutes should be revived, he said.
Other government agencies, such as the Ministry of Science and Technology, should make subsidies available for higher-education needs, he said.
The non-education ministry funds should be field-specific and open to applications from institutes based on performance, Liao said.
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