Last month the Republic of China Ministry of Education announced new internship opportunities at education providers around Taiwan for international students enrolled at overseas universities.
In a politically controversial move, the initiative will also be open to mainland Chinese students allowing them to work as paid research or teaching assistants at their respective schools as part of their graduation requirement. They are still not allowed to hold employment outside of their schools, however.
The internship programme is the latest in the government’s aims to boost the number of foreign students living, studying and working in the country targeting mostly at mainland Chinese students. The MoE also plans to increase the number of local schools able to recruit more Chinese students from 41 to 302– a move that could send waves across the country.
The internship programme is the latest in the government’s aims to boost the number of foreign students living, studying and working in the country
Richard Smith, CEO and co-founder of Taiwan-based UK Education Advisory Service (UKEAS) told The PIE News: “For people in Taiwan, increasing the number of Chinese students in universities is a political issue which divides opinion.”
However Smith viewed the move to internationalise higher education in Taiwan as “positive” and said the ageing population and declining birthrate in Taiwan has resulted in the closure of some universities, which he described as a “big problem.”
International students in Taiwan have more than doubled in the past five years reaching 78,000 in 2013, from 30,000 in 2008.
Earlier this year, Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou’s announced plans to attract 150,000 international and mainland Chinese students by 2020 accounting for 10% of the total higher education student population.
As well as increasing inbound international students, Taiwan is also hoping to establish a number of branch campus partnerships with overseas institutions. Ma said the objective is part of an “important election campaign promise” he made six years ago to increase in and outbound mobility in order to strengthen ties with foreign countries.
