On March 22, the Legislative Yuan passed the initial review of draft regulations on innovation in industry-university cooperation and talent cultivation in national key areas. Under the rules, top public universities and enterprises can jointly establish research schools in “national key areas,” and each school would be allowed to house two to three master’s and doctoral programs. Such schools are aimed at generating an additional 400 master’s and doctoral graduates yearly — with an initial focus on semiconductors.
The draft has exposed a flaw in Taiwan’s higher education. Because undergraduate studies are often seen as “formative education,” industrial, academic and research circles do not take university graduates seriously, and treat a master’s degree as the lowest requirement for recruitment. There is thus a serious education-job mismatch in higher education, a problem that exists even in the universities mentioned in the draft, not to mention technical and vocational colleges.
Faced with this mismatch, the Ministry of Education has failed to propose a remedy. Perhaps Taiwan could learn from Canada by adopting a “co-operative education” system (also known as “co-op education”), which has been implemented there for more than half a century.
Co-op education programs allow students to work paid internships in an industry related to their field of study. Most such programs take four years and two semesters, with an academic year divided into three semesters. Normally, students first take two semesters of schooling, followed by a semester or work term in an industry related to their studies. They then alternate between school and work terms until completing the program. When they finish their four-year education, the students already have two years of work experience.
By the end of each work term, a co-op student must submit an internship report, the format and length of which are specified by each university or department. The report is similar to a technical report or a research paper, and is subject to strict review by the university.
Meanwhile, the company that the student works for is responsible for reviewing their work attitude, team spirit and professional skills, and the students only receive credit for a work term after passing the review.
Unlike regular students, co-op students do not have summer or winter vacations that last a month or two. When a semester ends, the next semester begins in two or three weeks. Despite the busy schedule, students are able to gain practical experience and income. They mostly perform well in the workplace after graduation, and many of them are promoted to management posts within a short time.
Since the ability of co-op graduates is not inferior to that of regular master’s graduates, co-op education is highly valued by Canadians, who do not see a doctorate as a must.
During Taiwan’s long summer and winter vacations, most students work part-time jobs at convenience stores or food delivery platforms, where they idle their time away. If the ministry were to study the co-op education system and introduce it to Taiwanese universities, maybe it would be able to reverse a flaw in higher education.
Taiwan’s 18-week semester is too long for co-op education. However, National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology have shortened each semester to 16 weeks, and more universities are expected to follow. If the law were amended, implementing co-op education in Taiwanese schools would be feasible.
Huang Rong-wen is a professor in National Changhua University of Education’s Department of Mechatronics Engineering.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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