I remember reading a few years ago that for the first time in Taiwanese history that there was a surplus of university seats over students. Now it seems the situation is reaching a crisis point. According to Ho Chou-fei, the head of the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) Department of Higher Education, “statistics released by the Undergraduate Admissions Commission yesterday showed that there remained a total of 4,788 vacancies in 105 academic departments after the admissions of all college entrance examinees were finalized.”
And the article went onto say:
[b]The number of vacancies left unfilled this year was about nine times that of last year.
Several universities even failed to fill a majority of their vacancies.
For instance, Toko University in Chiayi was only able to enrol 201 students or less than 10 percent of available vacancies in its 18 academic departments. Twelve of the 18 departments recruited less than 10 students.
Tainan’s Hsing Kuo University of Management only managed to fill around 25 percent of its available vacancies with around 1,200 vacancies remaining.[/b]
So, with fewer students and less money around, it looks like universities in Taiwan are faced with these choices
Make their current instructors/professors work harder for less money;
Lay off instructors/professors;
Or simply go bankrupt.
I for one don’t see a future in this sector and will be calling it a day soon.
The article from the Taipei Times may be found here:
um sure the more reputable universities in Taiwan filled their places, if some of the others go bankrupt how would that be a bad thing? A much needed rationalisation of the market does not mean that the higher education sector in Taiwan has no future.
You make it sound as if the Taiwanese government is “rationalising” this from above, which of course isn’t the case. The problem is one of demographics: If there aren’t enough students, then the higher education sector in Taiwan could well be in a lot of trouble in the future. Further, Taiwan has a pretty strict immigration policy, so it’ll find it hard to replenish its dwindling population.
You make it sound as if the Taiwanese government is “rationalising” this from above, which of course isn’t the case. The problem is one of demographics: If there aren’t enough students, then the higher education sector in Taiwan could well be in a lot of trouble in the future. Further, Taiwan has a pretty strict immigration policy, so it’ll find it hard to replenish its dwindling population.[/quote]
Where did I say the government was rationalising from above? More like a market rationalisation. There will still be plenty of students to fill the places in any of the more reputable universities in Taiwan. The fact that “Hsing Kuo University of Management” or “Leader University” cannot find any students makes no difference at all to NTU, or NTNU, or NCCU. In fact this sector is likely to prosper if the government invests more money and/or allows fees to go up, opens the door to students from mainland China and/or manages to attract more international students.
Obvious really.
You make it sound as if the Taiwanese government is “rationalising” this from above, which of course isn’t the case. The problem is one of demographics: If there aren’t enough students, then the higher education sector in Taiwan could well be in a lot of trouble in the future. Further, Taiwan has a pretty strict immigration policy, so it’ll find it hard to replenish its dwindling population.[/quote]I don’t think what Mawvellous said sounds like that at all. I know very little about economics theory, but isn’t market rationalisation sort of a natural process that occurs when there’s a great deal of competition? If you Google “market rationalisation”, you’ll find phrases such as “free market rationalisation being hindered by state subsidies and protectionist tariffs”. Doesn’t much sound like governments controlling things to me.
Isn’t it good in a way that if there are fewer and fewer students, quite a few universities will close? As Mawvellous suggests, the average quality might go up.
[quote=“lotusblossom”]I for one don’t see a future in this sector and will be calling it a day soon.[/quote]Maybe that’s not such a bad idea, if you worry about the salary and conditions as much as your posts suggest. Try something else. You might have to do some more study or training, but you could eventually find something better-paid in a completely different field. Or you might have a different perspective on things in future and decide that TW university teaching wasn’t so bad after all.
You make it sound as if the Taiwanese government is “rationalising” this from above, which of course isn’t the case. The problem is one of demographics: If there aren’t enough students, then the higher education sector in Taiwan could well be in a lot of trouble in the future. Further, Taiwan has a pretty strict immigration policy, so it’ll find it hard to replenish its dwindling population.[/quote]
Where did I say the government was rationalising from above? More like a market rationalisation. There will still be plenty of students to fill the places in any of the more reputable universities in Taiwan. The fact that “Hsing Kuo University of Management” or “Leader University” cannot find any students makes no difference at all to NTU, or NTNU, or NCCU. In fact this sector is likely to prosper if the government invests more money and/or allows fees to go up, opens the door to students from mainland China and/or manages to attract more international students.
Obvious really.[/quote]
OK, I misunderstood you. Governments usually have educational policies, and the policy of Taiwanese governments has been to get everyone into school in order to equip them with the skills necessary to move up in the economic world.(Governments also use education to socialise and control its people.) With this in mind, governments have turned a blind eye to the exponetial growth of new schools and universities, believing this to be part of their democratic plan for the future. However, the drastic fall in births here caught the government off-guard, so now they are trying to rectify it by relaxing visa rules, offering “residency” to foreigners who invest a certain amount of money and create employment opportunities for locals, encouraging tourism, and promoting Taiwan universities.(My university, which is private, is agressively marketing itself overseas to make up the shortfall in local students.) The question is: Are Taiwanese universities attractive to international students, and will they be able to get enough students to stay afloat?
This is music to my ears. Not everyone is destined for a university education. Some are destined to fly planes, some to drive taxis, while others are destined to push pens in an office and wile away the hours . . .
Yes, I do worry about salaries and conditions, which is why I’ve decided to start my own thing. I’ve just got my “residency”, so I’m not shackled to any particular school now for a visa. The future does indeed look bright . . . and don’t worry, dear Joe, “university teaching hasn’t been so bad”. In fact, it’s been OK, except that now’s the time to put on my wings and fly solo.
You make it sound as if the Taiwanese government is “rationalising” this from above, which of course isn’t the case. The problem is one of demographics: If there aren’t enough students, then the higher education sector in Taiwan could well be in a lot of trouble in the future. Further, Taiwan has a pretty strict immigration policy, so it’ll find it hard to replenish its dwindling population.[/quote]
Where did I say the government was rationalising from above? More like a market rationalisation. There will still be plenty of students to fill the places in any of the more reputable universities in Taiwan. The fact that “Hsing Kuo University of Management” or “Leader University” cannot find any students makes no difference at all to NTU, or NTNU, or NCCU. In fact this sector is likely to prosper if the government invests more money and/or allows fees to go up, opens the door to students from mainland China and/or manages to attract more international students.
Obvious really.[/quote]
OK, I misunderstood you. Governments usually have educational policies, and the policy of Taiwanese governments has been to get everyone into school in order to equip them with the skills necessary to move up in the economic world.(Governments also use education to socialise and control its people.) With this in mind, governments have turned a blind eye to the exponetial growth of new schools and universities, believing this to be part of their democratic plan for the future. However, the drastic fall in births here caught the government off-guard, so now they are trying to rectify it by relaxing visa rules, offering “residency” to foreigners who invest a certain amount of money and create employment opportunities for locals, encouraging tourism, and promoting Taiwan universities.(My university, which is private, is agressively marketing itself overseas to make up the shortfall in local students.) The question is: Are Taiwanese universities attractive to international students, and will they be able to get enough of them to stay afloat?[/quote]
I think the government has been trying to attract international students as part of its programme to “internationalise” the higher-education sector here, believing this will enhance Taiwan’s future competitiveness. They still have a long way to go on this, but at least they are paying attention to the problem and putting the resources in. Of course this effort is focused on Taiwan’s best universities.
As for the private universities, I guess all but the most reputable ones would have trouble attracting any international students. Why would you study at Leader University when you can get admitted to NTU, NCCU etc.?
I agree many of the low-ranking private universities here are not worthy of the name. They should be reorganised as community colleges, Taiwan needs to focus more on training skilled workers and tradesmen, not on churning out graduates with worthless degrees.
I read in the Amcham mag, Topics, that some of these Uni’s were being set up to milk subsidies from the gov’t.
Now I’m actually very enthusiastic about this. I would like to see the ability for Taiwanese to go back to school to change jobs and careers as necessary. To improve their education as they see fit and to open up classes for anyone to attend at the lower scale Uni’s which should be changed to what Americans would recognize as community colleges.
I believe in another 5-10 years we will see a lot more diversifying and growing pains as universities realize that their target niche is overcrowded and gov’t. subsidies slowly get choked off. Right now you see more classes targeting more niche markets as professionals and middle aged people seek new experiences and learning.
[quote]As for the private universities, I guess all but the most reputable ones would have trouble attracting any international students. Why would you study at Leader University when you can get admitted to NTU, NCCU etc.?
I agree many of the low-ranking private universities here are not worthy of the name. They should be reorganised as community colleges, Taiwan needs to focus more on training skilled workers and tradesmen, not on churning out graduates with worthless degrees.[/quote]
Couldn’t agree more. My university, which is private, is having a tough time attracting foreign students. There is no way that they’ll be able to survive with the small number of internationals, plus the dropping off of local student enrollments. But, hey, my university is ONLY a university in name and all it does is “churn out graduates with worthless degrees”. In this Darwinian climate, I’m quite happy to see it ‘die out’.
Funny how these schools were community colleges previously, and now you guys are calling for them to go back. Pity no investiment was made -now or then- to make them especialized in technician training, also quite profitable. But no, name and glory and face above all, we’re universities you see.
Supposedly, they were “upgraded” to “universities” in order to force them to be more competitive and improve their quality by setting higher standards. As we can see, the reality of the situation -plus such a severe drop in students no one had even imagined- or rather, the shrinking of the market, has turned those well meant dreams into ashes.
That, and as has been previously pointed out, making money as the main goal -not to say a sick system to keep teachers so busy “doing research” i.e. writing papers thay do not care about quality, plus the god-like status of the fossilized mummies that set the policies for either party and in the most prestigious schools- pollutes the whole system with such venom that it is a miracle it has come this far.
As less and less students go to college, and with further economic crunch, we will see a veritable massacre in terms of thses schools. Expect lots of shady deals, corruption cases, and bogus students/teachers/schools to be unveiled soon. The test selling business is going to blossom more than pinglan stands in a recently opened highway.
lb, sorry to change the subject, but I thought you had left your uni job and went to work for some woman who recruits nurses and appreciates you… or did I get it wrong?
No, you got it right, but I’ve simply decided to start my own business . . . and help my gilfriend start hers. We’re both concerned with quality, conditions, and salaries, so we figured why not go it alone, especially as I’m no longer chained to the university by the working visa. Actually, the visa and my precarious status as a foreign worker here made me vulnerable, but as a “resident” the playing field is now level and the world’s my oyster. Working for others will never make you a rich man or bring any real job satisfaction, so it’s time to hop onto my lotusblossom and float gently down the stream to future wealth and happiness . . .
Since you’ll be in management now, did you have to relinquish your membership in the teachers’ association?[/quote]
You got me wrong, old buddy. I believe if you look back at the infamous “appallingly low salaries” thread, you’ll find that I said that I preferred to do my own negotiating with management. However, I do think that a union could be helpful in some instances, especially as most workers here are underpaid, overworked, and destined to lead lives of quiet desperation. Anyway, if my businesses grow into huge conglomerates, rest assured that my employees will rise with me.
BTW, has your salary increased from $NT580 per hour to the nice round number of $NT600 yet?
How is the economy in Taiwan at the moment? There seems to be a correlation between the number of people attending college (after a certain age) and those not attending college based on how the economy is.
Example: (Though not sure it’s really necessary) Local/National economy is spiraling out of control, people are losing their jobs left and right (kind of like it is now (in the states) … ironically) people tend to go back to school in order to re-train for a new career (that is if the economic slump lasts long enough, etc.)
I can’t comment on how well the university system is in Taiwan, so I’ll just ask a few questions about it. In a previous post a poster commented that some of the “universities” in Taiwan really shouldn’t be considered universities, why do you think that? Doesn’t the Ministry of Education (assuming such a thing exists in Taiwan) have strict guidelines for institutions/universities that must be followed in order for them to receive funding, accreditation, etc. ?