Taiwan private school "exit tsunami" hit! In July, colleges and universities stopped running teachers | schools | Taiwan

Entering July, the crisis of private schools leaving Taiwan continues to spread. Zhongzhou University of Science and Technology and Capital University in Taiwan will cease operations on July 31st, with Zhongzhou University of Science and Technology having been established for 54 years. Not long ago, three universities in Taiwan, Global University of Science and Technology, Mingdao University, and Datong College of Technology, announced the cessation of enrollment in 2023 and will cease operations from July 31 next year.

The picture shows Zhongzhou University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. The picture is a source image from China Times

According to statistics from the Taiwan Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of newborns in Taiwan for the whole year of 2022 was only 138986 million, which is a new low in history since the availability of statistical data; And the death toll exceeded 200000, the highest in history.

According to data from the Taiwan Education Administration, the number of new students in Taiwan's universities in the 2022 academic year was 213000, with a total of 19 colleges and universities having a registration rate of less than 60%; It is expected that the number of freshmen in the 2025 academic year will drop below 200000.

The arrival of the tsunami has attracted attention from the outside world regarding the direction of teachers and students; The "Regulations on the Exit of Private Senior High and Higher Schools" introduced by the authorities in response to the "exit" of private schools have been in effect for over a year and have also caused dissatisfaction from all parties.

Private schools are facing a tsunami of withdrawal

In early June of this year, the education affairs department of the Taiwan authorities announced that the three schools of Taiwan's Datong Institute of Technology, Ming Dao University and Global University of Science and Technology had to be closed due to the accumulation of teachers' salaries of more than 0.3 billion yuan.

The picture shows Mingdao University. Image from Zhongshi News Network

According to the China Times News Network, this is the first time that the Taiwan Ministry of Education has ordered multiple schools to withdraw on a large scale. A total of 1120 students are facing resettlement, 212 teachers, and 214 staff are feared to be unemployed.

The above three schools are specialized tutoring schools under the Taiwan Private School Exit Regulations. This regulation will be implemented from May 2022, and schools with significant financial deterioration, inadequate teacher quality, and outstanding salary will be listed as special tutoring schools.

According to a report by Far sighted magazine, the "Private School Exit Regulations" can be described as a "longer pain than a shorter one".

Several principals have expressed that in the past, the authorities encouraged private schools to undergo transformation and "exit", but the scrutiny was strict and only a few were successful; Now, the "Private School Exit Regulations" are being used to accelerate the clearance of the battlefield, directly sending vocational and auxiliary schools to the morgue, confiscating all land and property, with no chance of survival. This is like making up for the schools on the edge of the cliff, accelerating their fall into the abyss.

Students are like floating duckweed, teachers face challenges when transitioning to other positions

When the tsunami struck, the first ones to be affected were school teachers and students. The soon to be discontinued Taiwan Capital University is a microcosm.

According to Taiwanese media reports, on April 26th last year, when the teachers and students of the school heard the news of "suspension of enrollment", they were calm and clear, thinking it was a fake news. Unexpectedly, the school immediately confirmed that "the university department suspended enrollment and the research institute continued to operate". In May, it changed its wording to "comprehensive suspension", which shocked 811 students and faculty members. Apart from fresh graduates, there are still nearly 600 students who are like floating ducks and are forced to transfer schools.

Li Jinzhi, a teacher at the university, said that the main body of research and teaching in universities is teachers and students. However, the school held a temporary school affairs meeting in May last year, and after secret negotiations, announced the complete suspension of enrollment, which can be regarded as a "private escape trend". Students, teachers and other parties are not only excluded from participating in decision-making, but also excluded from the situation.

The fate of students has become a challenge, and the transfer of teachers also faces challenges. To assist private school teachers in transitioning, the Taiwan Ministry of Education launched the "Higher Education Human Resources Leap Training and Matchmaking Platform for Colleges and Universities" eight years ago. However, the platform's funding has been decreasing year by year, and its effectiveness has been pitifully lower.

Chen Xuesheng, a Taiwan educator, pointed out in an earlier interview that only 4 people successfully transferred their jobs through this platform in 2021, which is out of proportion to the teachers of the five private colleges and universities that have left from 2018 to 2021, indicating that Taiwan's education authorities have no intention to assist unemployed teachers.

Causing dissatisfaction in response to policies

The escalating tsunami of private school demolitions is related to Taiwan's decision at the end of the 20th century to promote educational reform by establishing high schools and universities. Liu Guowei, President of Mingxin University of Science and Technology in Taiwan, pointed out in an interview that in 1984, there were 27 universities and 77 colleges in Taiwan, and now there are 158 colleges and universities. He bluntly stated that the authorities ignored the trend of "fewer children" and "turned on the faucet desperately, but when the water was full, it still hadn't been turned off.".

Nowadays, the Taiwan authorities have been unable to come up with effective solutions and strategies to solve the problem, which has disappointed the outside world.

Wu Zhiguang, dean of the Law School of Taiwan's Fu Jen University, said that for private schools with poor school running conditions, it is too strict to cooperate with the conditions set by the authorities for transformation, and the regulations are more like speeding up the exit and not being responsible. He called on the education authorities to give private schools and the board of directors more room for transformation.

Xu Wenzhi, the founder of Global University of Science and Technology, recalled his difficult journey in founding the school and said, "If private colleges and universities had not worked together to cultivate talents in the past 30 years, Taiwan would not have the economic prosperity it has today." He once said at the graduation ceremony of the school in early June, "Thank you" to the Taiwan education authorities for destroying Global and Taiwan's tomorrow.

The recently announced tuition fee reduction plan by the Taiwan authorities will subsidize the tuition fees of private university students by 35000 yuan per year, which has also attracted criticism from the outside world.

According to reports, the plan will increase the budget by 21.9 billion yuan and be implemented in February 2024. Li Dewei, a representative of the Kuomintang in China, pointed out that the current education problem lies in the uneven distribution of resources. However, the authorities have narrowed the education issue to tuition subsidies, which makes people feel that it is a headache and pain.

Zhang Qilu, a public opinion representative of the Taiwan People's Party, also questioned that the authorities did not explain the source of funding for the 21.9 billion yuan budget. In addition to subsidizing tuition fees, the problems of insufficient enrollment and poor quality in private schools should be solved.