With an increasing number of local students seeking higher education across the Strait, KMT lawmakers yesterday urged education authorities to recognize Chinese degrees, a plea that a majority of private employers agree with.
The proponents said continued failure to do so will not only flout international practices but discourage talented graduates from returning to Taiwan where they will have trouble landing a job on par with their academic achievement.
"If the government can consider opening direct transport links with China, why can't it acknowledge Chinese university diplomas which are acceptable worldwide," KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (
For mainly political reasons, Taiwan has refused to recognize academic credentials acquired in China. Progress has been slow despite talks of reform over the years.
Chen painted the denial as unrealistic, noting some Chinese universities rank high in academic excellence internationally.
A recent poll showed nearly 60 percent of Taiwanese students would consider making China their destination when pursuing higher education abroad, attracted by its vast job market and potential for future development.
A separate survey found some 65 percent of private employers hope the government will acknowledge Chinese degrees.
Chen said the KMT and PFP will mount a joint campaign tomorrow asking the Ministry of Education to come up with a timetable for the proposed opening.
"The matter must not drag on forever," Chen said. "It has been taken up by five education ministers but there is no solution in sight."
Chu Jung-ping (
Unofficial statistics show that over 10,000 Taiwanese have acquired degrees from different Chinese universities, with an additional 3,300 in the process of pursuing one.
"The government should take steps to facilitate the return of talent as well as capital from across the Strait to help Taiwan keep its competitive edge on the world stage," Chu said.
KMT Legislator Wang Yu-ting (
"In fact, I had completed my graduate study at a Chinese university before entering the legislative race in 1998," she said.
The two-term legislator said she knows many who find themselves in a similar predicament when looking for employment in Taiwan.
A man surnamed Yu, who also attended the news conference, said he has tried unsuccessfully to obtain a job because companies would not recognize his Chinese college diploma.
Thirty-one percent of the employers surveyed shy away from recognizing Chinese degrees on the grounds they can easily be bought or faked.
But Wang argued the government should help people distinguish good Chinese schools from their bad counterparts as a better way to counter the problem.
She noted the education ministry in 1997 drew up a detailed list of Chinese schools that should be acknowledged, but has hesitated to push it for political reasons. Officials have said the matter is not actually in the hands of the education ministry, but up to the Mainland Affairs Council or agencies with a higher authority to decide.
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