Ho Chuo-fei, deputy director of the MOE Department of Higher Education, said the ministry has mapped out several plans on the opening measures in response to President Ma Ying-jeou’s Oct. 5 announcement of the plan.

He made the remarks at an MOE-sponsored forum held at National Taiwan University on the possible impact on local society and its education system in the event that Chinese students are allowed to pursue advanced studies and sit tests in Taiwan to obtain Taiwanese professional licenses.

A number of representatives of public- and privately-run colleges and universities were invited to attend the forum, where they spelled out a variety of opinions on the issue.

Some of the representatives suggested that privately-run institutes should be allowed first to recruit Chinese students in an effort to bolster sagging enrollment numbers, while others suggested that Taiwan first open its doors to postgraduate students from China.

Sun Shu-ping, provost of I-Shou University in the southern county of Kaohsiung, made a keynote speech at the forum on the institute’s own experiences in hosting students from China.

I-Shou is a unique case, as it has since January 2007 accepted students from 12 Chinese universities, including the prestigious Shangdong and Xiamen universities, for short term training and academic exchange programs.

Sun said that after hosting some 300 of the students, the university found that management of their daily lives, their behavior and their mental condition can prove problematic.

According to Ma, Taiwan will open its doors to Chinese students seeking to pursue advanced studies but will not allow them to sit tests in Taiwan to obtain Taiwanese professional licenses. He added that the policy is aimed at liberalizing and globalizing Taiwan’s educational environment.

The president said that while the policy means that colleges and universities will be allowed to recruit Chinese students, the administration will not push or encourage them to do so.

Noting that China now has over 2,500 colleges and universities, some of which rank among the leading educational institutes in the world, Ma said Taiwan will leave itself a laughingstock if it continues to close its doors and turn its back on world affairs.

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