Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) expressed support yesterday for the National Science Council’s (NSC) proposal to establish an listening-and-speaking proficiency threshold in English to university entrance requirements.
Wu told reporters on the sidelines of a national conference on nurturing Taiwanese professionals that universities could set their own gate-keeping standards, while students could try to pass the relevant proficiency tests by the time they graduate from high school.
RAISING STANDARDS
Wu said high school students did not care about speaking and listening proficiency because these categories have never been included in the official college entrance examinations, but university candidates should have a certain level of English listening and speaking ability.
The ministry has yet to decide which organization should be put in charge of administering the proficiency tests, Wu said.
NSC SUGGESTION
Wu was responding to a suggestion by National Science Council (NSC) Vice Minister Chang Wen-Chuang (張文昌) to test high school graduates’ proficiency in English listening and speaking in the college entrance examinations.
Chang said Taiwan was failing to produce people who could work anywhere in the world because students did not have enough exposure to different cultures and lacked competence in foreign languages competence, particularly in English.
Some university departments require applicants to have a certain level of English proficiency or an English-language interview.
More than 100 universities require their students to pass the high-intermediate level of the General English Proficiency Test — a proficiency test commissioned developed by the Language Training and Testing Center — before they graduate.
FOREIGN STUDY
In other news, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) promised yesterday to send 300 outstanding people in different fields to study at top universities or research institutes abroad every year. He said people selected for the program would receive a yearly stipend of between NT$1 million (US$31,000) and NT$1.5 million.
The government should also invite renown international experts, academics and Nobel Prize laureates to teach or conduct research in Taiwan for at least one year to “promote academic research and inspire Taiwanese students,” the premier said.
FOREIGN TEACHERS
The ministry also plans to recruit outstanding foreign teachers to teach at universities by offering them a pay scale that was “as handsome as possible.”
Wu Ching-chi said local universities had been unable to compete with their counterparts in China or Hong Kong because they did not have enough distinguished foreign professors.
“We are willing to pay as much as we can as long as we can recruit good talent,” he said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
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The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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