The Ministry of Education on Friday said it would suspend continuing education courses at some higher-education institutions on its watchlist from the new semester, which begins in August.
Eight institutions failed to achieve an enrollment rate of at least 60 percent for the previous academic year — from August 2017 to June last year — with Fortune Institute of Technology, Huafan University, and Nan Jeon University of Science and Technology having fewer than 3,000 students, ministry statistics showed.
The eight institutions are Huafan in New Taipei City, Hsuan Chuang University in Hsinchu County, Mingdao University and Chung Chou University of Science and Technology in Changhua County, Kao Yuan University and Fortune in Kaohsiung, Nan Jeon in Tainan and Chungyu University of Film and Arts in Keelung.
Amendments to the Guidelines on Continued Education Offered by Higher Education Institutions (專科以上學校辦理繼續教育辦法) say that such institutions are to be barred from offering continuing education courses unless their enrollment improves.
Other reasons that would lead to restrictions from offering the courses include severe debt, serious financial difficulty, three months of unpaid employees’ salaries, unwarranted salary reductions, employment of unapproved staff, failing a ministry evaluation or being placed on the watchlist.
Department of Technological and Vocational Education Director Yang Yu-hui (楊玉惠) said that institutes that are found to provide poor education would not be allowed to offer continuing education courses and the ministry filed an injunction banning them from doing so.
The watchlist would be published after the Legislative Yuan passes a private school transformation and closure bill, Yang said.
Meanwhile, National Sun Yat-sen University president Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) has proposed a merger with Kaohsiung Medical University, a private institution.
If successful, it would be the nation’s first merger between a public university and a private one.
Commenting on legal technicalities facing such a merger — which would be classified as a “private foundation” — Cheng called on the ministry to relax regulations, saying that integrating their resources would leverage the research capacity of higher education, creating in a win-win situation for the institutions and the nation.
However, Kaohsiung Medical said the proposed merger needs careful deliberation, while existing collaborative programs between the two have greatly leveraged education quality for both.
The ministry has expressed support for public-private mergers, but proposals by Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) that the private institution turn over half the seats on its board of directors to its public counterpart and that the entity be a foundation are considered difficult to realize.
A possible solution would be to have separate management for education and business affairs in such a merger.
Association of Private Universities and Colleges of Technology, Taiwan director-general Tang Yan-po (唐彥伯) said the government is unlikely to certify faculty members at private institutions as public teachers, as that would increase government spending.
If a public-private merger happens, faculty from private institutions would probably still be covered by their existing pensions, which would pose the problem of “one school, two systems,” Tang said.
Shih Chien University president Michael Chen (陳振貴) said he is optimistic about public-private mergers, as they would offer private institutions facing closure a way out.
Additional reporting by Weng Yu-huang and Huang Hsu-lei
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
Taiwan and its Pacific ally Tuvalu on Tuesday signed two accords aimed at facilitating bilateral cooperation on labor affairs, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The governments inked two agreements in Taipei, witnessed by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and visiting Deputy Tuvaluan Prime Minister Panapasi Nelesone, MOFA said in a news release. According to MOFA, the agreements will facilitate cooperation on labor issues and allow the two sides to mutually recognize seafarers’ certificates and related training. Taiwan would also continue to collaborate with Tuvalu across various fields to promote economic prosperity as well as the well-being of their
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
RSS