Educational reform in Taiwan: Implications for research and practice

Over recent years educational development and reform in Taiwan has gained tremendous momentum and the quest for quality and pressures of growth still continue. As early as 1968, Taiwan had accomplished the extension of her national compulsory education for a period from six to nine years. Later, in 1983, the prolonged national education based upon vocational education was successfully implemented. The amendment of the Teachers Education Law in 1994 was designed to provide more diversities and channels for quality teachers training in higher institutions. In 1996, the educational expenditure of Taiwan at all levels accounted for 19.36 percent of the total national budget. Moreover, the ten-year fundamental educational program has begun in full-scale in order to integrate junior high and the vocational education system together in recent years. For kindergarten to senior secondary school teachers, the New Teacher Training Act now requires all beginning teachers to pass the licensing tests and internships to become qualified teachers. Indeed, many educational renovations have occurred within Taiwan and Hong Kong over the past two decades in terms of rapid rate of economic growth, and technological and socio-political change. In this symposium, presenters from the Hong Kong Institute of Education (who had recently visited local schools, research centers, government educational organizations, and teacher training institutions in various Taiwan regions) will discuss and compare some significant aspects of educational development and reforms in Taiwan and Hong Kong, with particular reference to the current issues and problems at various levels of education - i.e., early childhood, elementary, secondary, and tertiary, including professionalization of teaching, quality assurance, rationalization of curriculum, school management, aboriginal education, and research productivity. In addition, the question of what can we learn from the Taiwan experience as well as some future directions and regional cooperation to overcome obstacles will also be discussed.