Following the passage of the Enforcement Act for School-based Experimental Education (學校型態實驗教育實施條例) into law, the Ministry of Education said higher education would be included in its push to increase the scope of experimental education.
As of the current school year, the nation has 4,841 pupils in 61 experimental educational institutions, including 51 public schools, three private schools and seven “non-school” institutions, Ministry of Education K-12 Education Administration Division head Chiu Chien-kuo (邱乾國) said.
Sixteen of the experimental educational institutions are dedicated to Aborigines, he said.
Experimental education began in Taiwan in 1990, when the Humanistic Education Foundation founded the Forest School.
The 1999 Educational Fundamental Act (教育基本法) serves as the legal basis for the establishment of private schools and the right to use unconventional educational approaches, as well as protecting the right to education. Since then, experimental educational institutions have increased steadily.
In 2014, the ministry proposed three laws on experimental education to expand its scope with the aim of giving families additional educational choices and strengthening the rights of students.
The three acts were the Enforcement Act for Non-school-based Experimental Education Across Levels Below Senior High School (高級中等以下教育階段非學校型態實驗教育實施條例), the Enforcement Act for School-based Experimental Education (學校型態實驗教育實施條例) and the Act Governing the Commissioning of the Operation of Public Elementary and Junior Secondary Schools to the Private Sector (公立國民小學及國民中學委託私人辦理條例).
The recently promulgated Enforcement Act for School-based Experimental Education allows experimental higher-education institutions beyond vocational high schools and colleges.
The law raised the student limit for experimental institutions at the high-school level and below from 480 student per school to 600 students per school.
The public education system also gained more latitude for creating experimental schools.
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