At the Cabinet meeting held today, Premier Mao Chi-kuo pledged the government's commitment to getting young people into jobs and helping businesses find the talent they require.
"The government will strengthen industry-academia links to narrow the gap between what young people learn in college and the skills they need in the workplace," he said.
"Although the government has expended great efforts to setting up platforms for young people to start up their own businesses, not many of them choose that path; most prefer to work for others. Therefore, we should focus more on bridging the skills gap that exists in the job market."
At the meeting, the Ministry of Education (MOE) reported on the 2015 objectives for the Cabinet-level board for industry-academia links, which was established late last year to coordinate efforts and integrate resources across agencies. Mao expressed hope that agencies can implement the board's policies and measures as soon as possible and produce concrete results.
He also asked them to submit their 2016 academia-industry cooperation budgets and resource proposals to the board quickly so that the board can coordinate projects and formulate budgets accordingly.
Premier Mao also said that not enough is being done to track whether or where graduates are working after completing senior high school, vocational school, university or graduate school. He directed the board to build a more comprehensive tracking system by integrating and verifying data from the MOE, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Finance.
If the board needs help analyzing such big data from numerous government agencies, the Executive Yuan has a service team comprising of information technology professionals from various agencies to provide assistance, Mao added.
As for where to find students for industry-academia collaboration, Premier Mao highlighted the importance of openness and said that students can come from home or abroad. As long as educational resources are sufficient, he is confident Taiwan can attract needed talent.
Regarding agricultural jobs, the premier said the government should remove barriers that keep young people from returning to the countryside and becoming farmers. Once successful solutions are established, they can be duplicated and expanded to solve similar problems faster.
So far this year, the board for industry-academia links has integrated 28 government programs for research and development and talent training. Its near-term strategies include:
- Expanding industry-academia talent training courses to create job opportunities.
- Encouraging industry and business associations to build models of industry-academia cooperation.
- Establishing dual-track academic and vocational education to improve students' employability.
- Launching an industry-academia facility center for hands-on training.
It is hoped these targets can be achieved, and that the government, industry and academia can work together to bolster talent training and open up career opportunities for students.