A number of private colleges could close due to the decline in the number of university-age citizens, and Taiwan should respond to this challenge by raising the quality and sophistication of education, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today after a Ministry of Education (MOE) report on the subject.
"Maintaining the quality of education should be the most important consideration," the premier remarked. He asked the MOE and relevant government agencies to formulate measures within one month about protecting the rights and interests of students and faculty of the affected schools and utilizing school land and property.
The meeting was convened at the Executive Yuan to address the Yung Ta Institute of Technology & Commerce's (YTCIC) difficulties recruiting adequate students and paying its employees on time. After the MOE's report, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance (MOF), Council for Economic Planning and Development, National Science Council, Council of Labor Affairs (CLA), Ministry of the Interior (MOI), Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Health and Welfare discussed the issue.
The MOE has been proactively responding to the declining birthrate through measures to find new sources of students, improve education quality and facilitate transition following private school closures. The government will primarily provide guidance on transition to schools of the secondary level and above while giving additional assistance to those which are sub-standard or shutting down.
According to the mechanism for private school closure established by the MOE, regardless of whether the institution is academic or vocational, comprehensive planning is necessary to protect the rights and interests of students and teachers and ensure the efficient utilization of school assets. A scheme to help the nation's teachers make job transitions must also be established.
Over the next month, the MOE should collaborate with the CLA to study how to protect faculty rights and with the MOI and MOF to formulate feasible measures for dealing with closure and transition-related issues such as the utilization of school land, instructed the premier, who demanded all agencies to assist the MOE in establishing several transition models.
Jiang also charged the MOE with continuing to promote the recruitment of foreign students, in particular those from Southeast Asian countries, and pushing schools to enhance their international competitiveness.
Meanwhile, in response to rapid social change, schools should consider offering more diversified programs or curricula to meet citizens' need for lifelong learning, he said.
The MOE will resolve YTITC's salary arrearage over the next month and release a comprehensive plan for managing the school's problems within three months. Students' educational rights and teachers' labor rights will receive the highest priority, MOE officials assured.
"The decreasing birthrate will have a huge influence on our nation's future," the premier declared. "The nation's policies on talent cultivation, which are closely connected to industrial development and national competitiveness, will be especially challenged.
"As demographic changes gain speed, and retirements decrease the size of the workforce, the labor market will become unbalanced, which will seriously threaten industry. Hence, private school transitions will be discussed in both talent cultivation and demographic policy meetings," he concluded.