Ministry of Education Objectives for 2015 (January-December)
Date:
2. Establish world-class universities and cutting edge research centers; provide teaching excellence award to a number of universities; strengthen the education and training of highly-skilled people in the field of higher education, aligned with industry needs; expand cross-strait academic exchanges; vigorously promote education innovation and provide universities and colleges more operational flexibility; encourage domestic universities to adopt international practices and benchmarks, and improve the quality of universities’ teaching, research, and international competitiveness.
3. Implement the second Phase of the Technological and Vocational Education Reform Plan; train highly-skilled technology professionals; shorten the existing gap between education and employment demand; further align technological and vocational education and training (TVE) to meet industry needs; further develop exemplary universities of science and technology; demonstrably manifest the practical relevance of TVE; redefine its core values; and increase its educational competitiveness.
4. Vigorously promote and implement teachers’ pre-employment training and on-the-job continuing professional development (CPD); enhance the quality of elementary and secondary school teachers; work to have legislation enacted to put in place an elementary and secondary school teacher appraisal system; establish professional development mechanisms for teachers; codify and institute teachers’ pay and benefits in both law and practice, and actively protect teacher’s rights; and make access to art and aesthetic education, to maintain and nurture the artistic awareness of the general public.
5. Continue to implement the 12-year basic education system; fully implement tuition-free education at vocational high schools; implement tuition-free education for senior high school students who meet the eligibility criteria; promote flexible admission, and targeted enrollments for vocational high schools and senior high schools; help to identify more high-quality vocational high schools and senior high schools; strive to achieve balanced development of vocational high schools and senior high schools in all regions; enhance remedial instruction to ensure the quality of basic education.
6. Reduce class sizes in elementary and junior high schools, and increase the number of teachers in elementary schools; increase the number of teachers for small-sized schools to eliminate the urban-rural divide in teaching quality; construct quality environments in elementary and junior high schools; boost the number and quality of after-school care programs; accelerate the renovation of older buildings in elementary and junior high schools; put in place school-provided lunch and food safety management, and promote the Health-promoting School certification program.
7. Construct high-quality education and safe learning environments for pre-school children; increase public involvement in pre-school education and care work, and increase educational opportunities for pre-school children; provide tuition-free pre-school education for 5-year-old kid to reduce the child-raising burden poses on parents and guardians.
8. Integrate measures in assisting socio-economically disadvantaged students to attend school to practically address social justice concerns; fully put in place the Education Safety Net measures; implement inclusive education for students with disabilities; and improve the special education administrative support network.
9. Increase indigenous in students’ academic competitiveness, safeguard indigenous students’ educational opportunities and their right to education; intensify the education and training of highly-skilled indigenous people; increase the number of qualified indigenous teachers; and continue to promote indigenous language courses, and the maintenance and passing on of indigenous languages and cultures.
10. Effectively implement and promote lifelong learning and associated activities; integrate the resources of government and the private sector to make family education services more widely available; safeguard and maintain the learning rights of the elderly, and make education channels locally available for all senior citizens; promote innovation of the services provided by public educational facilities for the public; provide a wide diverse range of lifelong learning resources; and focus on innovative use of library spaces and facilities, and create quality reading environments with a good ambience.
11. Strengthen student affairs and counseling work; put in place regulations to ensure gender equality, life education, and human rights, and implement character education; prevent campus bullying and student drug abuse, and make friendly, healthy campuses, and safe learning environments.
12. Upgrade the operating power of the Taiwan Academic Network (TANet) and expand the range of its services; strengthen mobile and data security mechanisms on campuses; enhance students’ cloud-based e-learning competency, and their capacity to address social concerns using digital technology; promote information ethics and online safety; build environmentally sustainable campuses; and increase teachers’ and students’ environmental literacy, protection of the environment, and ability to prevent disasters and deal with contingencies.
13. Increase international academic cooperation and exchanges; make courses in Taiwan Studies globally available; globally expand overseas Mandarin Chinese language education and associated undertakings; promote Taiwan’s higher education export industry; attract outstanding people to Taiwan to study; and create a friendly environment for international students.
14. Assist young people to explore career options, and promote entrepreneurship competitions for innovative young entrepreneurs; build stronger links between secondary schools, colleges, and universities and workplaces; encourage more young people to engage in public and community affairs; promote youth volunteering, charity work, and service-learning; and encourage young people to take part in international events, travel abroad, and expand their international experience.
15. Focus more strongly on physical education in schools, colleges, and universities, and improve students’ physical fitness; promote fuller public participation in sports; develop the Sports Island Project to encourage people to enjoy being physically active; assist with preparations to hold the 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade, to enhance Taiwan’s international profile; create a quality environment for further development of the sports industry in Taiwan, and increase the willingness of people involved in this sector to invest and participate.