Plans by Taipei’s private Shih Hsin University (SHU) to halt enrollment of new students in its Chinese literature department starting from the fall 2025 semester have sparked debate over the future of humanities education in Taiwan.
In a statement on Monday last week, Shih Hsin University said that it was preparing to submit a proposal to the Ministry of Education to phase out the department due to declining enrollment.
In response to the announcement, the department’s student association accused the university of “selectively” disclosing data in its proposal, by emphasizing the department’s 54 percent enrollment rate in the 2022-2023 academic year and ignoring that it rebounded to 87 percent in 2023-2024.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
Regardless of enrollment figures, “the impact of [Taiwan’s] declining birth rate should not lead to the sacrifice of core subjects,” the association said, asking the university to reverse the decision and recognize the humanities’ role in fostering “whole person education and critical thinking.”
When asked about the issue yesterday, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) was noncommittal, saying his ministry typically holds an annual review of such applications by universities in February or March.
Citing legal amendments made in 2018 allowing students to take more classes outside their disciplines, Pan encouraged universities to also show more “flexibility” in designing their degree programs.
“Halting enrollment and cutting or merging departments is not necessarily the way to handle such matters,” he said.
On the broader issue, Pan said Taiwan “needs to cultivate talent in both the humanities and the sciences, and should not allow industrial development trends to affect the diversity of students’ educations.”
In response to media queries, Hsu Kuo-neng (徐國能), a professor in National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Chinese, said that aside from the general challenge posed by Taiwan’s declining birthrate, enrollment in the humanities is particularly threatened by the perception that it is “less practical” than fields such as business, law or government.
Despite these challenges, he said he is not pessimistic about his field’s future, as long as it could find ways to integrate tradition with modernity.
As an example, Hsu cited his department’s Literature Creation Program, in which students take part in script writing and production of theater, television or documentary film projects.
Meanwhile, Lin Chi-ping (林啟屏), a professor in National Chengchi University’s Department of Chinese Literature, pushed back against the notion that universities should function primarily as “professional training centers.”
The humanities constitute a sort of “foundational curriculum,” and as such, should receive more support from government policies, Lin said.
Still, Lin said that much of what the humanities teach a student cannot be quantified, which puts it at odds with societal expectations that knowledge and abilities could easily be seen and measured.
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