Taiwan might not be immune to a widespread shortage of labor gripping economies worldwide. Business Weekly magazine in a recent article said the number of high-school students in Taiwan has fallen by 100,000, while the number of vocational high-school students dropped 220,000 amid a declining birthrate.
Commenting on the issue, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said that “in the age of globalization, knowledge-oriented talent can be recruited from abroad, but no one would fly in from overseas to fix your pipes or gas stoves.”
Alliance Cultural Foundation chairman Stanley Yen (嚴長壽) said that college departments market themselves as producing “managers,” adding that no one would want a job that would entail having to take orders from others.
To ensure that Taiwanese can continue to have their leaky pipes fixed, the government must address three main issues: social values, an unbalanced occupational and educational structure, and a hostile working environment.
Despite successive educational reforms, Taiwan’s examination-oriented culture remains rooted in society. Many people still believe that to be an academic is to be at the top of society, an idea that dates back to ancient Chinese feudal society.
Regardless of each child’s interests or aptitude, parents usually encourage them to attend high school and college instead of vocational school. They deem the latter an “inferior solution” or “last resort,” one for underachievers with unsatisfactory grades. It does not help when most people are disdainful of menial jobs, such as mechanics, plumbers and cooks, all of which are trained in vocational schools. This kind of labeling and prejudice is why vocational education has never been parents’ or students’ first choice.
Another issue is the occupational structure. As Yen said, a normal labor market should be pyramid-shaped, with mid-level and basic-level skills acting as the foundation.
However, Taiwan’s educational system has created an inverted pyramid structure, in which there are many high-level managerial positions, but not enough basic or mid-level personnel. In view of current labor needs, basic-level skills are in higher demand than high-level skills.
Further, since the government upgraded vocational schools, technological universities and junior colleges to “universities,” vocational schools have eradicated many practicum courses, a major point that differentiates them from high schools.
To help first-year vocational students to transfer to high schools if they wish to, vocational schools had students take subjects like math, geography and biology — no different than standard high schools.
Some vocational high schools also phased out “unattractive” departments that they deemed unpopular with students, such as sheet-metal working or pipe fitting.
Meanwhile, some departments were changed from “refrigeration and air-conditioning” to “electrical engineering,” as the latter is more popular, leading to a shortfall of workers equipped with vocational skills.
A hostile working environment also puts off students from vocational education. Whether it is fixing cars or driving buses, most menial jobs offer low salaries, yet demand long working hours, not to mention the low social status cast on them.
To address these issues, people need to eradicate their prejudice against certain professions and acknowledge that each occupation has inherent value.
The government must coordinate between technological schools and industry to ensure that vocational students can find jobs with decent pay once they graduate. This can help ensure that plumbers, mechanics and hair stylists continue to exist in the future.
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