Viola's Dreamworld

Friday, August 10, 2007

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I refer to the article, "5 out of 100 points enough to enter varsity in Taiwan" published in today's issue of The Straits Times.

As my promotional exams approach, I feel a sense of dread and a nagging worry of not being able to score well at the final A levels to get into a good university keeps repeating itself in my head. Then as I flip open the morning papers, I stumble upon this particular article which says that 5 out of 100 points is enough to enter a university in Taiwan.

What is the world coming to? I think to myself. Over here, while I worry for my grades, students in Taiwan are able to breeze through university admission even with low scores.

The aim of education is to produce qualified people and train them for the workforce. It aims to develop one's mindset and introduce critical thinking, as well as to impart to the students skills that are essential in today's competitive society. As the competition grows more intense, it is not only working adults who are feeling the heat. Students, too, are feeling the pressure to do well. Changes are being implemented in schools' syllabuses to stretch students further. While it used to be that people were degree-holders were viewed as the "cream of the crop", and had better advantages over everyone else when it came to job applications, today that notion has changed. In modern society, a degree is seen as a minimum qualification by many. In my family, my sister and I have been told to attain at least a degree before we step out into the working world. We have been brought up to believe that people without a minimum degree certification will only fail in the outside world.

Which puzzles me how university admission requirements in Taiwan can be so low when the rest of the world is fighting for university places in their own countries.

The article credits it to a lack of students. Put in economic terms, it simply means a situation of having excess supply, but insufficient demand. The number of tertiary institutions surged from 139 a decade ago to the current number of 163. This is taking place as Taiwan faces a declining birth rate.

A question posed in the article is "It boils down to the debate over which is more important when it comes to promoting tertiary education: equity or quality?" According to Professor Fang Der-Long, who heads the Department of Education in a university, Taiwan seems to favour the former. It makes me wonder if Taiwan is compromising the quality of education in its move for a more educated workforce. If the Ministry of Education does not step in to regulate the criteria for university admission soon, there will be a sharp rise in the number of under-qualified people who will obtain university certificates. This will pose dire consequences to Taiwan's economy as these people step out into the workforce.

While I can understand Taiwan's rationale for wanting a larger educated workforce, I disagree with the decision to lower admission criteria just to achieve its aim. I personally feel that if there is a lack of demand, closure of a few universities would be a good idea rather than to lower the standards just to fill up its placings. After all, education is supposed to help develop people into qualified workers, who will then go on to contribute to the country's economy as they step out into the workforce. By compromising on the quality of education, a degree certification in Taiwan may very soon be deemed "useless" against degree-holders from other countries. When this happens, Taiwan will lose out.

-when are you coming back? ;