In an unprecedented move, a recent graduate from Changhua Girls’ Senior High School put off attending college to join the workforce. The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday that she is to participate in the ministries of Labor and Education’s youth employment program, which was launched in 2017 and has seen a slow start, likely due to traditional attitudes about higher education.
Under the program, high-school graduates work for one to three years while receiving a regular salary, as well as a government stipend that is deposited into an account they can access after the program ends. This can help pay for their education if they continue it, or fund other career ventures.
Despite originally budgeting for 5,000 job openings, the program had only about 700 participants in the first two years, before jumping to 1,500 this year. In a society where the vast majority of high-school graduates attend university and not doing so brings great shame to the family, the program’s low numbers are not surprising. This attitude has resulted in a large number of graduates who enroll in university just for the sake of it, just choosing the best major their college entrance exams can get them into without thinking clearly about their career paths.
The Liberty Times article said that 27 percent of college students regret the major they chose, yet many still complete their four years of study and feel lost after graduation. Placing more focus on high-school students’ career options and decisions instead of just training them to get into top universities is one way to resolve this issue, and is needed for the youth employment program to work. Even so, many people still do not know what they want at the age of 18. In this case, going to college is just a waste of time, but family and societal pressures continue to push students along this path.
The student’s decision to join the program is even more unusual considering she graduated from the top school in Changhua County and the 595 other students in her grade all headed to university. The school touts its results annually, and said that 25 of its students were accepted into the top five national universities this year. There could be many reasons this student decided to go against the grain. They are not detailed in the article, but the government’s praise of her decision could change the perception of some parents who are adamant that their children must attend university.
In response to the student’s decision, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said: “Our young students do not all have to take the ‘express train’ from elementary school to university and even graduate school. They can take the ‘local train’ and enter the workforce to understand the real world first, and through that they can understand themselves and become better equipped to make a decision about their future.”
This is not odd in many Western countries, but praising a Taiwanese student from a top school who chooses not to attend university would have been unheard of 10 years ago. Parents would probably be furious.
Yet things are changing, and students need to keep up with the realities of the world. Despite the flaws in Taiwan’s education system, presenting these options as not only socially acceptable but encouraged is definitely the right move. Deep-rooted perceptions are hard to change, and any effort counts.
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