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Updated Tuesday, September 9, 2008 0:00 am TWN, CNA

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Taiwan to extend maximum stay for Chinese students

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The government is likely to implement in October at the earliest a new measure allowing Chinese students to stay longer in Taiwan, Deputy Education Minister Lu Mu-lin said yesterday.

Under the measure, which is aimed at expanding cross-Taiwan Strait academic exchanges, the maximum stay by Chinese students will be extended from four months to one year, Lu said.

On the issue of whether the Ministry of Education (MOE) will recognize Chinese academic qualifications, Lu said the ministry is expected to put forth a plan in early 2009.

He made the remarks in a news conference held after an inspection tour of the ministry by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan. During the tour, Liu was briefed on the ministry’s policy plans and its project to enhance the quality of senior secondary and tertiary education.

According to Lu, the premier expressed deep concern about the admission of obviously unqualified students into universities and instructed the MOE to study the feasibility of raising the minimum graduation requirements for senior high school students.

Liu said the MOE should concentrate its efforts on upgrading the quality of education to meet local demand, said Government Information Office Minister Vanessa Yea-ping Shih.

Liu suggested that the MOE evaluate the qualifications of teachers on a regular basis and improve the quality control of senior secondary and vocational education.

He also said the MOE should encourage reading among Taiwanese students and make it a core value of education, and expressed concern over the phenomenon that sees local students paying more attention to cramming than to reading.

With a sharp increase in the number of universities in Taiwan over the past decade, the college admission rate has also been rising, reaching a record high of 97.1 percent in 2008.

However, the situation in which students scoring as low as 7.69 on their entrance exams were able to gain admission to universities this year has called into question the qualifications of these students and the quality of the universities that admitted them.

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