Regulatory relaxation on TNE - Taiwan government introducing new initiatives to reform the higher education

The government in Taiwan shows its ambitions to develop Taiwan as an ideal study destination with an aim of recruiting 150,000 international students by 2020. An initiative called ‘education innovation’ has been introduced to guide actions of interested players, and as part of the facilitation, the government is now looking at loosening local regulations that have restrained  development of transnational education in Taiwan.  As one of key strands, ‘education innovation’ has been included in the ‘Free Economic Pilot Zone’ proposed by the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) for Taiwan to set foot on regional economic partnerships led by China and US.

The objective of ‘education innovation’ is to develop Taiwan’s higher education as high-end service that can be exported under the framework of Free Economic Pilot Zone, said Chiang Wei-ning, the Minister of Education. According to Chiang, ‘education innovation’ will be implemented in two phases, the first stage will focus on degree programmes and professional qualifications/curriculums , followed by the second phase to establish co-hosted campuses and independent colleges , which is estimated to happen in two to three years’ time.  

Local institutions are positive about ‘education innovation’, which sets a milestone for Taiwan’s higher education. Some of them  have either expressed interests or been developing programmes with prestigious universities from around the world. For example, National ChengChi University (NCCU) has been in discussion with UC Berkeley and University of Munich upon subject-focused curriculum and degree programmes. And in the southern Taiwan, a continuing education college co-funded by Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism (NKUHT) and Le Cordon Bleu will be ready for an intake of professionals and international students in September.

The Ministry of Education will organise a forum for ‘education innovation’ to invite feedback from stakeholders across sectors. A detailed proposal of this initiative will then be provided in six months after the forum.