Two top universities are to continue providing national defense undergraduate programs, despite low enrollment rates that prompted the Ministry of National Defense to cancel its involvement.
National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) has eight students — studying electrical engineering, computer science and life sciences — in its program.
NTHU academic affairs dean Wu Yung-hsien (巫勇賢) on Saturday said that its program would build “a supply chain of talent” for defense technology.
Photo courtesy of National Tsing Hua University
The program would facilitate cooperation between the university, the ministry, and research and development institutions, while training a new generation of military officials, Wu said.
National Cheng Kung University academic affairs dean Shen Sheng-chih (沈聖智) said that national universities have a responsibility to cultivate defense talent.
“The program not only helps attract high-quality students to one of the top universities in the country, but it also gives students the opportunity to contribute what they have learned at university to national security research and development institutions,” Shen said.
“We are still committed to allocating resources to the program even though not many students are enrolled in it. The most important thing is that students are high-quality,” Shen said.
Undergraduate programs for national defense started in the 2020-2021 academic year through partnerships between the ministry and the two universities, as well as National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, National Sun Yat-Sen University, National Central University, National Chung Hsin University and National Taipei University.
Students seeking to enroll in the programs had to be new high-school graduates. While studying, they were obligated to undertake military training every Saturday, and during summer and winter vacations.
In addition to a complete waiver of tuition and fees, students in the program each received NT$5,000 per semester for books and supplies, and a NT$12,000 monthly stipend.
Graduates were recruited as second lieutenants by the military and were obligated to serve for at least five years. The purpose of the program was to recruit high-quality talent for the military and boost the defense industry’s autonomous capabilities.
The ministry also recruits students at public and private university for its Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).
While the ministry recruited 213 people from the undergraduate program, enrollment rates were typically about 50 percent of capacity, prompting lawmakers to ask the ministry to evaluate the program.
Lee Meng-shan (李孟珊), section chief of Ministry of Education’s Department of Higher Education, said that the defense ministry canceled the program last year, but the education ministry would be willing to work with the defense ministry to resume the program.
Former Shih Chien University president Chen Chen-kui (陳振貴) said that the NTHU model might be a solution to the technical issues facing many institutions that were part of the defense ministry’s program.
“Defense and education officials must seek solutions through cross-departmental meetings. They should not judge the program’s effectiveness by the numbers,” Chen said.
Chin Han-chung (秦漢忠), director of the military training office and deputy dean of students affairs at Chung Yuan Christian University, said that the program was an upgraded version of the ROTC.
Recruiting university students for the ROTC is more difficult than it was for the canceled program, because they could quit if they found they could not adapt to the requirements, Chin said.
The undergraduate program recruited students fresh out of high school, who had a better chance of being determined to pursue careers in the military, he said.
An expert who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the defense ministry’s cancelation of the program might have been related to its emphasis on lineage and ethics.
Students who graduate from top universities and are “air dropped” into the military do not find it easy to adapt, the expert said.
However, the program helped to cultivate top talent for diverse research and leadership roles in the armed forces, they said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
RSS