Tag Archives: Taiwan

Taiwan promotes vocational and technical education for overseas compatriot students

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Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興), Chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee, pictured above. (By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – To commemorate Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s second year in office, chief of the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) is looking back at the achievements of the education projects made for the overseas compatriot students from the Southeast Asian countries under President Tsai Ing-wen’s New Southbound Policy.

In terms of education, the OCAC has encouraged students to come to Taiwan for training and education. The number of  overseas compatriot students coming to Taiwan has increased from 700+ to more than 1,000, in two years, and the students’ country of origin has also gradually expanded.

In an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA), Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興), the chairman of OCAC, said that over the past two years, the Taiwanese government has relaxed the number of schools participating in the “3+4 Overseas Compatriot Students’ Technical and Vocational Training Courses,” and has actively enrolled students from Southeast Asian countries, and the results have been remarkable.

The students of the “3+4 Overseas Compatriot Students’ Technical and Vocational Training Courses” come to Taiwan to study in vocational high schools for 3 years. After graduation, they continue their studies for 4 years at technical colleges.

According to OCAC data, in 2016, there were only five participating schools and 754 overseas compatriot students studying in the program. In 2017, there were 12 schools participating with 1034 overseas compatriot students, and this year, the numbers have increased to 13 schools with 1,531 enrolled students.

Not only has the number of overseas compatriot vocational school students increased, but also the number of countries from which they have come. Wu said that a majority have been coming from Vietnam and Malaysia, and now, more students are also coming from Indonesia, Burma, and other countries.

He said that in the future, the OCAC will continue to expand the reach of this program and hope to recruit more Chinese-ethnic students of different nationalities by communicating with overseas compatriot parents and promote the services provided for overseas compatriot students.

Wu pointed out that in addition to the “3+4 Overseas Compatriot Students’ Technical and Vocational Training Courses,” the OCAC also promotes youth technology courses for overseas compatriot students, overseas compatriot graduates and workers, and students who have come to Taiwan to study at two-year technical and vocational programs. The graduation certificate issued by the OCAC helps the overseas compatriots start their own businesses after returning home

According to OCAC data, in 2016, Overseas Youth Vocational Training Classes had 1,179  students distributed among 17 schools and in 2017 the number increased to 1,380 attending 21 schools.

With regard to the advantages of overseas students coming to study in Taiwan, Wu said that quality of vocational senior high schools and higher education in Taiwan is slightly better than Southeast Asian countries, including teachers and equipment.

At the same time, Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries are culturally similar. So the overseas compatriot students are able to integrate quickly into Taiwan’s society, including Taiwan’s freedom and democracy among the advantages.

Wu conveys that the OCAC provides tuition subsidies to overseas students who are studying at Taiwan. Overseas compatriot students can also work part-time up to 20 hours per week, alleviating the financial burdens of studying abroad.

Additionally, the Overseas Credit Guarantee Fund (OCGFund) can provide a loan of NT$80,000 to overseas students who need assistance when they arrive in Taiwan, and then repay them in installments.

In order to attract more overseas compatriots to Taiwan, Wu mentions that the OCAC also discussed with related ministries and councils to relax the conditions under which the overseas compatriot students can remain in Taiwan after graduation.

He said that the draft of the “New Economic Immigration Law” planned by the Cabinet includes this modification. Those who graduate from vocational high school and receive their certification will be able to stay in Taiwan to look for a job, which will help increase Taiwan’s middle-level technical manpower.

SourceL https://www.taiwannews.com.tw

Thai & Malaysia students to gain from Taiwan’s policy

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More scholarships offered to academic staff and students from the region.

TAIWAN’S NEW “Southbound” policy will mean more educational opportunities for people from all Asean countries, including Thailand.

“In line with the policy, our government will offer more scholarships for academic staff and students from Southeast Asian nations to boost the development of the region’s human resource,” said Taiwanese Education Minister Pan Wen-chung.

Fifteen scholarships are being granted via the Thai Ministry of Education, which is also covering Bt20,000 personal expenses per month for Masters Degree students and Bt15,000 for undergraduate students besides a Bt40,000 contribution towards the tuition fees.

“We want to help Thai lecturers, most of whom have Masters Degrees to study for their PhD in Taiwan via this scholarship scheme,” said Pan. “We are also creating a platform for Thai and Taiwanese universities to work together and we are also organising human resources training.”

Taiwan would expand its foreign student quota, particularly for those from Asean countries, in the academic year 2018, he added.

In 2016, Taiwan granted 193 scholarships for undergraduates from Asean countries. while also giving a further 984 language learning scholarships and 100 scholarships for lecturers from these countries.

In that same period, Taiwan had 12,000 students from Malaysia, 5,000 students from Indonesia, 4,700 students from Vietnam and 1,700 students from Thailand. The ministry expected the number of Asean students to rise in future.

Besides scholarships, Taiwan also offered human resources training for Asean countries on various subjects, including academic, industry, vocational promotion or executives’ business administration, Pan said. “What Taiwan wants is to pass on its experience and knowledge to Asean countries,” Pan said, adding that Taiwan was looking at hiking Taiwan-Asean investments in education to a value of Bt1 billion.

President Tsai Ing-wen administration’s “new southbound policy”, which came from a proposal by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was clear that a priority should be to strengthen ties with Southeast Asian nations and India, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

As some critics feared this policy might not last long if Taiwan’s opposition Nationalist Party, also known as Kuomintang, won power, Pan affirmed the policy would remain as it concerned education. This policy was also useful to Taiwan, he said citing the increase in the number of visitors from Southeast Asia to Taiwan, which is safe and friendly to visitors.

Taiwan’s capital Taipei is home to 100,000 foreign partners and children of Taiwanese nationals. The biggest immigrant group is Vietnamese, followed by Indonesian, Myanmar and Thai.

To help educate them in their original languages the ministry would add Asean language courses in primary schools, Pan said.

Starting in 2019, every primary school in Taiwan will include seven Asean languages as elective subjects: Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Burman, Indonesian, Cambodian and Filipino.

Besides the private businesses in Taiwan those in the wooden furniture industry also want to invite Asean people for training in furniture design and related technology.

“Many Taiwanese have invested in Southeast Asia. We have capital and technology but we don’t have the raw materials. So we are ready and willing to train new people if the government can promote this as an educational scheme under the new southbound policy,” said Mauson Industrial Co’s general manager Hsu Michael.

Jason Huang, director of the Taiwan Woodworking Machinery Association in Taichung City, said businesspeople were ready to train Asean people as many had already invested in the region.

The association has supported an industrial-academic cooperation training programme in furniture and carpentry at National Taipei University of Technology and next year, 40 Vietnamese students will undergo one-year vocational training course there.

At National Formosa University, a well-known technical institute in Huwei District, Yunlin County, study programmes in engineering and technology are popular among students from Southeast Asia.

Most of the foreign students were Chinese Malaysians who were studying undergraduate programmes as the university .

One lecturer, Assistant Professor Arnold Wang, said 18 Malaysian students were studying a programme comprising eight months of teaching classes and four months of internship.

Two of these students would be awarded full tuition coverage based on highest grade averages.

The university also wants to introduce courses at Malaysian institutes with a high population of Chinese Malaysian students, such as Taylor’s University Subang Jaya in the Malaysian State of Selangor.

A Malaysian student identified only as Daniel said he chose to study at Formosa due to its prestigious mechanical engineering courses and the opportunity of internship at a real workplace. He said being taught in the Chinese language posed no difficulty to him and although it was more expensive than studying in Malaysia, Daniel said it was worth it.

Another student, Chan Kwan Chen from the Malaysian State of Kedah, agreed, saying that studying in Taiwan offered new opportunities and experiences compared with studying in his home country.

Having some relatives in Thailand, the young man said he knew too little about Thai institutes and hoped to learn more.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com