The government should guarantee that a university or college would not close down midway through its students’ studies, the Taiwan Higher Education Union said yesterday.
A total of 951,35 people signed up for the joint entrance exams for four-year technical colleges and two-year junior colleges this year, the union said, citing statistics from the Testing Center for Technological and Vocational Education.
That was 15,555 people, or about 14 percent, fewer than the number of people who signed up for the tests last year, it said.
The number of people who signed up for the Advanced Subjects Test (AST) also fell, it said.
Last year, 49,119 people signed up for the AST, compared with 43,753 this year, it said, citing College Entrance Examination Center figures.
Given the decline, schools could face greater challenges in recruiting students this year, and many schools and departments might see a decline in enrollment rates, union organization department director Lin Po-yi (林柏儀) said.
As a result, many students and their parents are worried that the department they selected might close down in the course of their studies, he said.
Such inquiries that the union has received from students are upsetting, because students’ selection of preferred departments should be based on their aptitude or interest, Lin said.
No student should have to worry about whether the school they attend might close down halfway through their studies, he said.
Students should not be the ones to bear responsibility for the effects of the nation’s falling birthrate, Lin said.
The government should ensure that if it allows a university to recruit students, then those students must be allowed to complete their studies and graduate from that school, he said.
The birthrate might continue to fall and universities might face an increasingly difficult situation in terms of recruitment, Lin said, adding that if the government does not make its position clear now, more problems would emerge.
The union called on the government to guarantee that if a school wants to discontinue operations, it must first stop recruiting new students.
Only when its current students graduate should the school be allowed to close down, it said, adding that the same quality of education should be maintained in the meantime.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS