Taiwan has a relatively isolated position in the world with few significant countries recognising its status as an independent country because of the political sensitivities of Taiwan’s relationships with China. Its position is made particularly vulnerable by the rapidly growing economic strength of mainland China. However, Taiwan retains a powerful economy in its own right. GNP per capita is USD 16,423 and the year-on-year growth rate is expected to be 4.31 per cent growth for 2006.
Taiwan still boasts having the third highest foreign reserves in the world (USD 253.3 billion in December 2005). Industrial output increased almost 4.13 per cent during 2005. More than 160 Taiwanese companies have set up their operations in the UK, accounting for 70 per cent of Taiwanese investment into the EU, and Taiwan is also a major regional investor, particularly in mainland China. Although affected by the world economic downturn of 2001, the Taiwan economy has since been growing again, and Taiwan entered the WTO in 2002. Taiwan is seeking to move further into upstream technologies, and the labour market is increasingly dominated by the service sector (with declining numbers employed in industry and agriculture).
There is an unstable internal political situation with a weakened president who does not have a majority in parliament and is currently the subject of corruption charges. The single biggest political issue is the relationship with China, and developments in mainland China affect Taiwan, both directly and indirectly (e.g. through the impact on UK and other overseas investment flows).
The population of Taiwan is 22.7 million (February 2005), mainly concentrated in the main urban centres: the capital Taipei, Kaohsiung in the South and Taichung in Central Taiwan. The island is very urbanized and the population density is second highest in the world (after Bangladesh). There is a strong demographic decline with the number of 17-35 year-olds set to reduce by over 25 per cent over the next ten years.
In a more competitive economic environment an educated population is Taiwan’s chief resource, and an increasingly high value is placed on international education, ability to think creatively, knowledge of Western management styles and English language skills. These priorities are reflected in government efforts to expand local higher education, improve quality and competitiveness and support internationalisation of Taiwanese education and opportunities for Taiwanese to study abroad
The structure of the educational system is modelled on the American system of elementary, junior high and high schools, junior colleges and four-year universities but with a traditional Chinese emphasis on examinations. Universities, two-year junior college, and other four-year higher education institutions in Taiwan offer first degrees after four to five years of study. They operate a credit system on the American pattern. Domestically there is an overprovision of university places. In school year 2004, there were 159 higher education institutions in Taiwan: 75 universities, 70 independent colleges, and 14 junior colleges. Accordingly, Taiwan has extremely high HE participation rates: in the academic year 2004, over 80 percent of senior high school graduates chose to continue to higher education. The government has a stated aim to 'bilingualise' Taiwan and teaching of English is high on the agenda. Since 2001 English has become compulsory from the fifth grade on, two years earlier than before, and in some cases is introduced even earlier in the curriculum.
Study overseas is a consumer choice and not driven by lack of domestic supply. Overseas study improves job prospects in a competitive labour market and is much sought after in a country that is completing the transition to higher technology production. For historical and political reasons, Taiwan has very strong links with the US. The US is consequently the market leader taking around half of the 30,000 or so students who leave Taiwan each year to study abroad. However, the UK comes a strong second at around 30 percent. Australia is third at around 10 percent but strongly growing and becoming more threatening. Taiwan is a steadily growing, medium-sized market for UK education. 5,930 students in UK HE in 2004/5 and around 3 percent growth. 16th largest national source market for UK HE.
Taiwan is a mature market and the infrastructure of educational agents is well developed, though individual agents vary greatly in size and quality. It is estimated that there are around 230 active agents in Taiwan, of whom 18 work exclusively or mainly with the UK.
One major barrier to UK providers is the limitation placed on recognition of courses delivered by distance. Currently any course of study leading to a degree granted by a foreign university must include a substantial period of study in residence. However, recent Ministry of Education guidelines allow more flexibility for Taiwanese and overseas universities to collaborate on delivering dual and joint courses.
The market for UK education is substantially postgraduate, with around 80 per cent of HE recruits doing either taught Masters (around 60 per cent) or PhDs (around 20 per cent). The established pattern for many Taiwanese is to study for a first degree in Taiwan, where university places are in oversupply, although competition for places at the more prestigious universities is intense, and then to study at postgraduate level overseas. The UK does well because of our shorter courses, particularly our one-year Masters courses. We expect the postgraduate market to continue to do well, particularly in the more popular subject areas, which tend to be technical and vocational: Business, Marketing, Management, Art & Design, English, Education, Finance.
There is a smaller undergraduate market of around 20 per cent of the total and there may be opportunities to expand this sector in the face of stiff competition from the US and increasingly from mainland China, which is reported to be recruiting 5,000 or more Taiwanese students a year.
There is a small FE market with opportunities for combining English language training with vocational or access courses and a small but steady market for independent schools and English language providers.
The government continues to promote internationalisation of Taiwanese education, including support for study abroad. There will be growing opportunities for UK institutions which are able to develop collaborative arrangements with Taiwanese counterparts, including joint or dual degrees. In all sectors of the market it is important for providers to present their product clearly and to place themselves competitively. Taiwanese are skilled consumers and will expect information about rankings, student support etc. Price is becoming a major factor in decision making, particularly since the relative cost of UK education has risen in recent years, both absolutely and relatively with the high exchange rate. Research also shows that a major driver for choosing an overseas study destination is the perceived marketability of the qualification so Taiwanese alumni can prove very valuable in providing evidence of career progression.
The British Council in Taiwan maintains staff at our premises in Taipei and Kaohsiung. Our Taipei office is situated in the up and coming XinYi district diagonally opposite Taipei 101, the distinctive landmark feature of Taipei and the world's tallest building (as at May 2006). Our work is substantially focused on education, English language and examinations, and our information centres in Taipei and Kaohsiung are open to the public seven days a week with counselling available Tuesday to Saturday.
The Taiwan Education Promotion Scheme is an independent subscription service separate from the British Council’s central Education UK Partnership (EUKP), with which it has close links. We have 167 UK member institutions and we have just completed a membership services review (MSR) to ensure that our services continue to reflect members’ priorities and mainstream EUKP services. Further convergence is likely although the issue of merger has now been deferred and is less of a probability.
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