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Joint Declaration of National Conference of University Presidents School Year 2008

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Joint Declaration of National Conference of University Presidents School Year 2008
"National Conference of University Presidents School Year 2008" was held at National Kinmen Institute of Technology on December 23 and 24. Faced with rising unemployment in the 21st century, the attendees announced a joint declaration urging college students to cultivate five personal strengths that can change the future. Minister of Education Cheng Jei-cheng hopes to realize the establishment of a fair and just educational system and urged attendees to work hard to achieve that goal.

The theme of the conference was "improving methods used to cultivate talent; bolstering moral standards to better our society". In times of global competition, the conference stressed the need for universities to have a global view and a passion for the wellbeing of the places they live. In addition to conducting research on teaching and the training of competitive individuals, the importance of upholding declining morals was emphasized.

University presidents further put forward a joint declaration, stating the mission to train future individuals involves cultivating college students'five strengths - morals, creativity, the drive to learn, macroscopic view, and the ability to find employment. In addition, college students have to possess the basic training of a modern-day citizen and a moral sense in line with universal values.

Joint Declaration of National Conference of University Presidents School Year 2008
 
Training college students to possess the intellect to change the future
 Training college students to cultivate a character of universal values

Impacted by a severe global economic downturn, the 21st century is witnessing never-before-seen unemployment levels. Managing the country's universities, we have some of the country's best brains. Consequently, we cannot shirk our responsibility to help quickly resolve the economic crisis.

Therefore, we, presidents of 155 universities, are of the opinion that college students should possess five strengths that can change the future, the basic training of a modern-day citizen and a moral sense in line with universal values:

  1. Morals: Universities should nurture students'character of integrity, sincerity and trustworthiness.
  2. Creativity: Universities should provide students with a diversified learning environment and opportunities in order to expand their horizons and facilitate creativity.
  3. The drive to learn: Universities should shift the focus of teaching from content to process, guiding students to "learn how to learn" rather than to "learn what" and foster their ability to think and solve problems independently.
  4. Macroscopic view: Universities should establish an international exchange platform to nurture students' global view and ability to understand different cultures.
  5. The ability to find employment: Universities should help students combat unemployment, encouraging them to explore career paths and setting up a corporate feedback platform and future ability indicators to narrow the gap between industry and academia.

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