In his New Year’s Day address, ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said Taiwan would implement 12-year compulsory education by 2014. This statement has highlighted two myths pertaining to the success of such an initiative: that entrance exams must be abolished and prestigious high schools cut down to size.
The first myth is that the abolition of examinations is neither a prerequisite nor core element when implementing a national education system. This is illustrated by the U.K., where even after the school-leaving age was raised to 15 in the post-World War II period, children took tests at age 11 for streaming into separate secondary schools.
To date, examinations for U.K. secondary-school selection have not been abolished and secondary schools remain unintegrated. This policy has been further watered down by the emergence of specialist academies.
The idea to end entrance exams in Taiwan is an extension of the policy relating to senior high and vocational schools. Students wishing to enter a specific department would not need to sit the Basic Competence Test for Junior High School Students, but take an aptitude test or foundation course. Some consider this as admission without examination, but it can also be seen as a new or different kind of test.
If this practice is unacceptable, then entrance could be limited to the system that currently applies at junior high schools, which is based on household registration in a school district. This would be a catastrophe as it means only the rich and powerful can enroll in the catchment districts of prestigious schools while ordinary people look on with despair.
It is not surprising that heated debate has arisen over the question of who can enter prestigious schools such as Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, Taipei First Girls’ Senior High School and Kaohsiung Municipal Girls’ Senior High School. Unless all of Taiwan’s schools change their names to similarly lofty titles, or their standards improve to similar levels, entrance tests should not be completely abolished under the 12-year compulsory education system. The rules governing admission must continue to be based upon open and fair assessment.
Under the current policy governing admission to Taipei’s prestigious schools, around 5 percent of places for junior high pupils are offered sans entrance exams. To promote a more equitable education system, this figure should be lifted to 10 percent to 20 percent for students from an institution’s catchment district. The remainder can be made available to pupils from outside the county or city catchment districts through open competition.
Senior high and vocational schools, on the other hand, could become more selective with their admission policy, offering 10 percent to 20 percent of places on an exam basis. By raising the bar, this would see the institutions embark on a path to attaining educational excellence.
The second myth is that prestigious schools must be cut down to size for the 12-year compulsory education system to work. While it might be argued that elite junior high schools disappeared after introduction of the nine-year compulsory education system, in fact, many new ones emerged.
In any case, Taiwan’s most prestigious senior and vocational high schools were not created by the government or through granting special privileges. They gained their reputation due to the efforts of their teachers, students and alumni over many decades. If there is an issue worthy of review, it is not whether these schools should be brought back to the pack, but the examination system employed.
In general, public schools are better than private schools, a situation common to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. These institutions should be treasured as national assets, with everyone given an equal opportunity to share in the benefits they provide. Any move to privatize them would not be in the interest of the people.
The solution to Taiwan’s education dilemma lies not in hamstringing top schools, but assisting more institutions to reach their standards of excellence. But equally important, greater efforts must be made to persuade parents to send their children to local senior high and vocational schools.
Chou Yu-wen is a Department of Education professor at National Taiwan Normal University. These views are the author’s and not necessarily those of Taiwan Today. Copyright © 2011 by Chou Yu-wen
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