Education is a long-term investment in people, and if society lacks foresight in making such an investment, trouble will inevitably arise. Therefore, at a time when national and social development are interdependent, it is essential that we think carefully about the formulation of higher education policy and the implementation of measures for university autonomy.
The evolution of the education system is also a continuous process, and while it is being carried out, communication must be a priority. Since education and research are highly developed in the US, the system there can provide a useful reference point for comparison. Looked at from this perspective, the nation's higher education system gives cause for concern and appears in urgent need of strengthening.
Universities and academia are influenced by the historical era and also reflect a society's level of development. In traditional Confucian East Asia, there were "one-way" methods of instruction to impart knowledge and moral values and to solve problems. Some methods emphasized explication of the classics while others corrected inconsistencies in the classical cannon, but none involved true research. Although this system stressed a literary and philosophical spirit, it failed to come up with pragmatic and innovative solutions to problems.
Early universities in the West took religious study as their primary objective. Although the development of basic mathematics and sciences can be seen as a breakthrough marking the beginning of a new era, it ultimately stands as an isolated accomplishment. Only in the early 20th century, after the industrial revolution, did research as we know it become the norm.
In today's rapidly changing environment, higher education faces frequent challenges. Therefore ongoing reforms are necessary, and comprehensive comparative assessments must be made of the quality of academic research and administration. There are several examples of this.
The government budget for universities is limited, and schools are forced to find other sources of funding. The development of academic fields is intimately connected with business and industry and is strongly influenced by the job market. Education and research emphasize practicality and are in contact with everyday life. Large-scale, multi-disciplinary education and research is the trend of the future. Hiring of professors is competitive, and professional ethics and legal regulations govern relations between schools, professors and students. Students are influenced by the reputations and marketing efforts of schools when selecting a university. Fairness and transparency are demanded in the university admissions process.
The abundance of human resources and widespread basic investment in education have promoted the stable and rapid development of this nation's economy, but higher education lacks clear objectives. Nearly 150 new universities and colleges have been established in recent years as part of the push for a more balanced regional development. But many schools have established new departments in a haphazard man-ner, while an unknown number of vocational schools have also upgraded their status. All of this has happened without developing complementary financial and assessment measures.
With the additional problems of a rigid administrative system, disjointed education policies and excessive ceremony, there is a serious problem of having too many managers and too few leaders who can really communicate. Although public consensus favors education reform, opinions about reform diverge and obstacles are hard to overcome.
Investment in higher education is lacking and professor's salaries are both low and largely uniform, making it impossible to respond to the competitive demands of the market. For example, engineering professors earn only between 10 percent and 30 percent of what their US counterparts get, and salaries also fall short of those in Singapore and Hong Kong. In terms of average per capita income, salaries also lag far behind those at Peking University and Tsinghua University in China.
Professors also have equal courseloads (between three and nine courses per year), while in research universities in the US, those without a research project teach from three to five courses a year and those with a research project teach just one or two courses a year. By giving everyone the same teaching load, it is difficult to encourage excellence. Those with research duties should have a reduced course load and should incorporate their research findings in their classes in a timely manner. Those without research duties should teach more and should participate in teaching-related research work to balance their teaching and research.
Professors also have a heavy load of administrative duties, regardless of their seniority. Under ideal conditions, younger professors with energy and creativity should spend more time doing research and less time on committees or doing administrative work. Senior professors should guide the direction of research and take on more administrative and committee work.
In terms of promotion and compensation, the evaluation criteria focuses largely on the num-ber of papers published and not the actual contribution of their studies and research. Higher education is also often influenced by the political climate. US higher education is systematic and flexible, and education authorities have great power. But in this country higher education is inflexible, and educational authorities have almost no power to make decisions about personnel or faculty wages. They face various restrictions and have little real effect.
US universities also protect the rights of women and minorities, but these issues are barely addressed in this country. Moreover, top US universities thirst after talent and actively recruit top scholars. Although there are excellent professors in local universities, it's not very easy for local schools to recruit outstanding talent from overseas. Professors hired from overseas are either those who love their motherland dearly or those who wish to teach part-time after retirement. Although the nation has benefited from these professors, the system is still flawed. This is quite different from making every effort to recruit the most capable.
The purpose of education is to serve society. Only with massive investment can universities effectively pay back society. A university, just like a business enterprise, is unable to be proficient in all respects, and it's therefore crucial for it to establish and develop its own niches. Teaching universities should focus on general education courses; research universities should recruit outstanding talent and expand their facilities.
This nation should certainly build world-class research universities as part of its effort to become an advanced country. However, it should be cautious about the features, number and scale of such schools in light of the nation's small size and limited resources.
In the past, the quality of a university depended on the number of its leading professors. In recent years, however, not only have universities been subject to society's scrutiny, but they have also faced various evaluation mechanisms and reform plans. In addition, since every university has its own specialty or advantage, those with similar characteristics often use "benchmarking" in order to promote a higher standard of education and research.
The reputations, academic research and professional ethics of a few universities are already close to today's world-class standards. But they still lag behind in other aspects -- such as fundraising, salaries, social cooperation, financing of education and research and management. As a result, they can hardly compete with first-class universities abroad.
The best way to upgrade our higher-education system is to replace regionalism with a global vision. We should strive to improve the quality of our universities while taking overall social concerns into account. To play a leading role in global academia, this country has to employ professional management methods in accordance with society's needs. The system once promoted social prosperity. But its content and development have become fragmented, while the concept of building a comprehensive system is absent entirely. Although the system has provided diligent and multi-talented technical man-power, the humanities and social concerns have been ignored.
It is hoped that the universities can cultivate talent with both professional knowledge and humanistic concerns, as well as a sense of justice, environmental protection, and service to society so that they can become pillars of the nation and good examples for the world.
Kuo Way is a member of Academia Sinica and Wisenbaker Chair professor at Texas A& M University.
TRANSLATED BY ETHAN HARKNESS AND EDDY CHANG
The EU’s biggest banks have spent years quietly creating a new way to pay that could finally allow customers to ditch their Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc cards — the latest sign that the region is looking to dislodge two of the most valuable financial firms on the planet. Wero, as the project is known, is now rolling out across much of western Europe. Backed by 16 major banks and payment processors including BNP Paribas SA, Deutsche Bank AG and Worldline SA, the platform would eventually allow a German customer to instantly settle up with, say, a hotel in France
On August 6, Ukraine crossed its northeastern border and invaded the Russian region of Kursk. After spending more than two years seeking to oust Russian forces from its own territory, Kiev turned the tables on Moscow. Vladimir Putin seemed thrown off guard. In a televised meeting about the incursion, Putin came across as patently not in control of events. The reasons for the Ukrainian offensive remain unclear. It could be an attempt to wear away at the morale of both Russia’s military and its populace, and to boost morale in Ukraine; to undermine popular and elite confidence in Putin’s rule; to
A traffic accident in Taichung — a city bus on Sept. 22 hit two Tunghai University students on a pedestrian crossing, killing one and injuring the other — has once again brought up the issue of Taiwan being a “living hell for pedestrians” and large vehicle safety to public attention. A deadly traffic accident in Taichung on Dec. 27, 2022, when a city bus hit a foreign national, his Taiwanese wife and their one-year-old son in a stroller on a pedestrian crossing, killing the wife and son, had shocked the public, leading to discussions and traffic law amendments. However, just after the
The international community was shocked when Israel was accused of launching an attack on Lebanon by rigging pagers to explode. Most media reports in Taiwan focused on whether the pagers were produced locally, arousing public concern. However, Taiwanese should also look at the matter from a security and national defense perspective. Lebanon has eschewed technology, partly because of concerns that countries would penetrate its telecommunications networks to steal confidential information or launch cyberattacks. It has largely abandoned smartphones and modern telecommunications systems, replacing them with older and relatively basic communications equipment. However, the incident shows that using older technology alone cannot
RSS