My friend and I are currently living in mainland China. I am British, she is Australian, and we both want to work in Taiwan next year. Everything about us checks out, except that the university we got our degrees from (the same one, in America) is not on the magical list :loco: that the Taiwan government uses to verify degrees.
I have searched all over these forums and cannot find anyone directly discussing this subject, could someone please tell me 1) is it possible to get our University added to the list? 2) how is that done?
I’ve seen a lot of people discussing the list, but no one has provided a link to it (that I have seen)
well here is a link to the list for England. Enjoy.
It would probably involve a change in the law. And they’re not going to do that for mere foreigners. They won’t even follow the law as it stands for us. Not all that different from China really…
Taiwan does not recognize online degree programs in general. In particular, Belford grants degrees based on life experience or an online test and does not offer instruction. At best, it doesn’t seem like that would ever pass muster here. At worst, well, it looks like a sham to me.
The government doesn’t recognize fake degrees. Neither does almost anywhere else. Hardly surprising, when you read Tainan Cowboy’s link. How much did you pay for this “degree” by the way? Whatever it was, you were scammed.
I was forced to fork out for it as my Higher National Diploma in Computing, which took me four years of attending a real college, in person etc, is not recognised by the Taiwan government.
For those that don’t know. A HND is a vocationally focussed degree level qualification, and was created to solve the problem of BA graduates entering the work place, knowing everything about their chosen subject, yet knowing next to nothing about working practices. This Diploma is a British qualification only, and as such is not widely known.
Someone is yet to answer my question, how do I get my college/university accepted by the Taiwan government? (either Belford, or my real college).
Regards all,
BB.
P.S. No wonder Taiwan is short of teachers when the MOE they make it so hard to get in.
I was in a similar situation. I think what you need is an authenticated copy of your diploma. For that you need to go to the Taiwan consulate in the country you got your diploma from, and then stamp it for you, and put a fancy sticker on it. I am not sure what exactly they do, but they somehow check the university and diploma. Maybe they just call the institute to see if your diploma is for real etc.
I have packed most of my stuff already, but if I find something useful at home, I will inform you.
Here is the link to the consulate in Chicago that I went to. If I remember correctly, they have some forms online that you need to fill out. It is a rather complicated process.
I’m a Brit and I know perfectly well what an HND is. I happen to have one, as a matter of fact. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it is not a degree-level qualification and it wasn’t devised to compensate for experience-lacking degree holders.
Its a vocational qualification that takes you to the equivalent of about second year of a degree course. Most people with both will have done an HND first and then progressed to a degree (as in my case).
The government here has a hard enough time acknowledging that bachelor degrees can be done in three years, as is the case in Britain for an ordinary degree, so it’s little wonder that they won’t accept an HND as a degree substitute.
Does your “real” college offer actual degrees? If it does, I guess you could submit the name to the Ministry of Education and ask that it be added to the list. It’ll take a long time to get through the bureaucracy though, so I wouldn’t expect a result any time soon.
The Ministry won’t touch Belford with a barge-pole. It’s one of the better-known fake degree scams and they’re well aware of exactly what it is.
You don’t have any qualification recognized by the government, so your options are basically to teach illegally and accept the constant risk of being found out and deported, or go back to uni and get a proper degree. At least if you do it in Britain and you do it in a computer-related field, your HND might be enough to let you skip first year or something.
Working flat out illegally doesn’t sound enticing to me. I’ve decided to give Taiwan a miss and check out South Korea and Japan, as in my opinion neither country has but the block on non BA holders a firmly as Taiwan.
My current strategy is to cut agents out of the loop by applying to school’s directly and asking them check my quals out and give me the go ahead for a Visa before I leave. I understand that I’ll open myself up to sharks, but as long as I get a decent feeling about whomever will take me then I’ll accept a position, even if I have the suspicion that the Visa might not be cosher / kosher, whatever.
I am a teacher recruiter who works with schools in Taiwan, Korea and China.
Sorry to burst your bubble, South Korea is way harder to teach legally. You will need to submit two sets of authenticated transcripts from your university in order to apply for work visa, which is done before you enter the country.
Q. When it comes to teaching English, what’s the difference between a HND in Computing and a degree in, for example, Religious Studies?
A. You know the answer; perhaps someone could inform the f.wits at the MOE.
Not much help, I know. But…you could always marry a local. You’d have to be pretty desperate though. Far more cons than pros, especially if we’re talking about Taiwan Man.