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Sick schools need a
sensible doctor
By Chang Ruay-shiung 張瑞雄
Because of pressures caused by low birthrates, universities have come up with
large sums of money in an attempt to attract more students to their schools. A
certain national university on an outlying island that is not doing so well, in
an attempt to attract students, recently announced that it would be spending
NT$65 million (US$2,25 million) to give each new student a laptop computer. This
is the largest total scholarship ever given out by a school in Taiwan. Even
medical departments in private universities that used to be overloaded have
begun offering large scholarships in an attempt to attract talented students to
their institutions.
When people get sick, they feel bad and need to see a doctor right away, because
the longer an illness is left untreated the worse it will get. Looking at the
way these schools are recklessly throwing money around, we can see higher
education in Taiwan is indeed sick. The ill, in this case our universities, all
know they are very sick, but the only doctor that can help, the Ministry of
Education, does not know how — or does not want — to treat them and is leaving
everything in the hands of God.
The facts are clear. In 1998, slightly more than 260,000 people were born.
Universities and technical colleges now take on about 310,000 students per year.
By 2016, the people born in 1998 will be ready to go to university. Even if all
of them go, there will be a shortage of about 50,000 students. What’s more, only
about 70 percent of students go on to higher education, so things clearly don’t
look too good.
There will be a presidential election in January 2016 — will the presidential
candidates be ready to face these problems?
This year is the first year that students from China will be allowed to study at
private Taiwanese schools under new guidelines drawn up by the ministry, but the
results have not been good and only the top universities are able to attract
students from other countries. Many less prestigious universities are therefore
in dire straits, but if the government does not have any clear plans and
complementary measures in place, I can’t see how these schools would close
themselves down willingly.
A certain magazine quoted Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) as saying that
the closure mechanisms of Taiwan’s universities are in place in case they are
needed. At the moment, only the University Act (大學法) covers such matters, while
specific laws on closure mechanisms for colleges and junior colleges have yet to
be passed.
One university president said in private that he could understand Wu’s comments
because not too many education ministers would want to be remembered for having
closed several schools during their time in office, since it could damage their
career prospects. However, this university president was wrong because a
minister willing to close universities would go down in history as a resolute
official with “guts.”
Universities are unwilling to close down of their own accord because they feel
the government backs them anyway, while there are absolutely no incentives for
private universities to close their doors.
For a school’s board of directors, closure would mean liquidation and many
universities already have huge debts. Even in schools with passable finances,
everything that would be left after liquidation — capital, land and buildings —
would be seized and impounded by the state. Given the current closure
mechanisms, it is really hard to imagine how any school would be willing to
voluntary close down. In the end, the whole thing will become a complete mess
that the government will have to deal with.
Letting a lot of universities remain in operation even though they should be
closed harms many students. These schools will not exist in the future, so how
can teachers concentrate on teaching and not feel worry and concern? And how are
these schools meant to make long-term investments and plans for teaching and
research? Still, such schools do everything they can each year to attract new
students and offer higher education of low quality. This has misled many
students and cheated their parents who pay the expensive tuition fees.
Many universities are on their deathbed, but where are the doctors with a
conscience and moral sense?
Chang Ruay-shiung is vice president of National Dong Hwa University.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
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