In a recent cabinet-level meeting, a new initiative was introduced by the Ministry of Education to further enhance the country’s vocational education system.

The initiative will bring financial support in the value of NTD 20 billion (around £428 million in December 2012) over the span of four years and is expected to help the sector extend its current industrial network to Banking and Service industries, involve more industrial practitioners and expertise in the material development, as well as to increase the number of students participating in the internship and/or work placement arrangement to equip them with practical experience.

The new initiative was very well received by heads of institutions at the vocational education sector. Some commented that there had been an absence of sufficient support at the national level over a long period of time. Schemes that were previously introduced suffered from the lack of continuous financial input. Local experts urged that it remains imperative for the Ministry to keep its promise in allocating funding and to monitor closely the progress made by awarded institutions, reported the United Daily.