On Jan. 1, the Ministry of Education (MOE) published its evaluation report on Taiwan's 24 private colleges of technology that were upgraded from junior college status more than two years ago.
Over half of these colleges scored poorly in the evaluation. A total of 14 schools were graded "third-level" (meaning that they scored between 60 and 70 points on average) on the five-level evaluation.
The MOE has carried out similar evaluations since 1975. But it was actually the first time that the ministry publicized the evaluation results.
According to the Department of Technological and Vocational Education under the MOE, the scores were announced to help the public understand these colleges' characteristics and performance, as well as to put pressure on them to improve.
That the education authorities' insistence on publicizing the evaluation comes despite strong pressure from many colleges is praiseworthy.
Nevertheless, judging from the evaluation process and results, there is still room for improvement for both the MOE and the colleges.
In terms of the MOE's evaluation process, certain evaluation methods need to be changed.
First, the evaluators appointed by the MOE only conducted a one-day inspection of each of the colleges.
In fact, according to Sun Yung-ching (
Thus, they could only get a superficial impression. If the evaluators weren't able to spend more time at every college, how could they get a clear understanding of each school's facilities and development and come up with helpful evaluation results?
The MOE also said that it is only capable of conducting such evaluations once every four years due to a lack of manpower. To improve the quality of school evaluation, perhaps the MOE can hire more evaluators and establish a permanent committee to conduct evaluations annually or biannually.
Those colleges that scored well in the recent evaluation should continue striving. For example, most administrative units and academic departments of St. John's and St. Mary's Institute of Technology, and those of a few other colleges, were ranked "first-level" in the evaluation report.
Those that scored poorly should promptly improve themselves if the flaws were correctly reported. Colleges such as the Yuda Institute of Business Technology, where most units and departments lagged behind in the evaluation, effective remedies should be initiated right away.
According to MOE regulations, all schools with third-level administrative units or academic departments will be given probation for a one-year period. If they fail to overcome their weaknesses within this period, the ministry may cancel their annual subsidies or even require them to cut down the number of students.
Therefore, schools that did not do so well this time should do some serious introspection and look into their problems. They should invest students' tuition fees on school development, employ qualified personnel in professional faculties and avoid irrational manipulation of school boards, which sometimes view schools as their private property.
Hopefully, both the MOE and Taiwan's private technology colleges can learn from this evaluation experience and work to establish a desirable higher education environment.
Chang Sheng-en is a lecturer in English at Shih Chien University and the National Taipei College of Business.
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