There has been some discussion recently over the issue of university students’ lack of motivation to study. Many have pointed out some crucial problems, including an ongoing decline in the birthrate and that too many universities have been established over the past few years.
In theory, the low fertility rate should only affect lower-ranking universities with less stringent enrollment standards, but based on my experience teaching at a vocational high school and a university, even students at higher-ranking universities are showing lower levels of academic engagement.
A few days ago, a former student of mine visited me at the vocational high school where I teach. He was an excellent student, and we talked about how he and his classmates have been doing since they graduated.
He told me there were one or two low-performing students who did not show any willingness to study, but their entrance examination results allowed them to be accepted into high-ranking universities.
The student said that the universities and the departments that they enrolled in were not related to their majors at the vocational high school, and some of those departments were just established last year.
In other words, even though these students might have performed poorly in school, in some majors they would face less competition and are therefore able to be admitted to relatively higher-ranking universities.
Taiwan’s universities and some departments have been offering numerous admission paths. Most university departments are still focused on specific disciplines, but more are trying to attract students by advertising the ease of transferring from one department to another.
As a result, a variety of majors and departments have been created with the purpose of attracting as many students as possible. For example, art design students could major in civil engineering, while engineering students are encouraged to take classes in business. Some less popular departments might just welcome anyone for fear of not enrolling enough students.
To attract students, universities and departments have made it a lot easier for students to change their majors and transfer to another school. Entrance examinations, in this sense, do not mean much. Today, students can attend any university first and then look for another.
Some opportunistic students attend a higher-ranking university not out of a motivation to learn, but to obtain more impressive-sounding degrees. Their attitudes might influence other students, leading to a general lack of motivation to study in classrooms.
University lecturers and professors can do nothing but lower their standards when grading, as it would be impossible to fail half the class. The consequence is an overall decline in the quality of Taiwan’s higher education.
We must fix admission’s systems at universities. An appropriate screening mechanism should be restored. If universities only seek to recruit more students, the situation would continue to deteriorate.
Chung Pang-yu is an adjunct assistant professor in National Kaohsiung Normal University’s department of education.
Translated by Liu Yi-hung
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