Today, the island is well into another crucial phase of economic development. Growing pressures for higher technical and managerial skills are forcing careful review of the island's educational system.
Two key questions are now receiving special attention. First, what is the appropriate ratio between the number of general education high schools (equivalent to U.S. public schools) and vocational and technical schools? Second, what changes should be made in the curricula of the latter schools to meet the labor needs of Taiwan's move into high-tech and service industries?
The vocational and technical educational system faces several challenges: excellent courses and supporting facilities, long effective in training workers, are becoming outdated; fewer students are seeking admission to vocational schools; and funding priorities for educational restructuring are still unclear.
Decisions and adjustments made in these and related areas, as this and the following articles indicate, will determine the effectiveness of Taiwan's domestic and international economic status in the decades ahead.
When students in Taiwan graduate from junior high school they reach a major turning point in their educational careers. Based upon regional entrance examination scores taken soon after graduation, the best students can attend regular public high schools. The others enter vocational or technical schools, or drop out. (Some students who fail the exam take it again; the others immediately enter the labor force with minimal skills.) Both educational tracks have been closely monitored by the government to ensure steady upgrading of the island's labor force.
The system of vocational and technical education (usually referred to as "VTE" or "vocational programs") has always been closely linked with policies spelled out in a series of National Economic Development Plans (NEDPs) followed since the end of World War II. The first of these, entitled "Restoration of Agricultural and Industrial Production," lasted from 1945 to 1953. The plan focused on rebuilding the island's war-shattered infrastructure, and laid the foundation for agricultural and industrial development.
Are old vocational skills as useless as an old shoe?
From 1953 to 1968 a new NEDP, called "Development of Agriculture to Foster Industry," encouraged greater sophistication in agricultural production (linked with the Land-to-the-Tiller program) and matched it with a policy of "import-substitution industrialization" to balance trade. The plan successfully transferred surplus rural manpower to industry, while rationalizing and strengthening the links among production, consumption, savings and investment, employment, and import-export policies.
Labor force requirements shifted significantly during these periods as the economy diversified. By 1964 the island had achieved an export surplus, and the industrial sector had grown substantially in importance. Migration from the farms to the factories was in full force, giving rise to rapid urbanization as towns suddenly became crowded cities.
The VTE system played a vital role in training this newly urbanized population, helping to merge the characteristic features of rural and urban society through a policy of gradual transition sociologists called "urbanization." It was a period of rapid and confusing change, but vocational education was wisely based on meeting practical needs both of the immediate present and near future.
The structure of the basic system was adapted from Western models, but was modified to address Taiwan's specific development needs. Vocational programs in other countries usually prepare students for specific types of jobs, but the local approach gradually built in broader goals as well. While students in most cases were directed to specific blue-collar jobs, those who demonstrated exceptional ability were able to continue their education in junior or technical colleges and even colleges or universities. It was therefore possible for these students to earn undergraduate or advanced degrees even though they were initially routed through the vocational or technical school system.
Prior to the implementation of the nine-year compulsory education program in 1968, vocational education was divided into a three-year junior department and a three-year senior department. Now there is only the latter division, in which there are seven categories of vocational schools: agriculture, industry, commerce, marine products, nursing and midwifery, home economics, and opera and the arts.
Table 1. The Current School System
In conjunction with the new compulsory education requirements, the government also refined its VTE system. The Ministry of Education in 1969 began adjusting the ratio of general education schools to vocational schools to meet the island's changing economic needs. The process has been a consistent success in training the work force behind Taiwan's "economic miracle."
Two sets of statistics illustrate the government's educational response to these labor requirements. First, there has been a steady shift of emphasis in the overall educational system toward training mid-level workers. In 1950 there were 18,866 students attending senior high schools (62.7 percent of the total), compared with 11,266 in senior vocational schools (37.3 percent). By 1976, the growing emphasis on vocational educational training had brought the percentages almost equal: 190,798 students were in senior high schools (49 percent of the total), and 198,969 students were attending vocational schools (51 percent). Over the next decade the trend continued. In 1987, 206,019 students were enrolled in senior high schools (31.5 percent of the total), and 447,328 students were in vocational schools (68.5 percent).
Second, the curricula in these vocational and technical schools altered in response to the transforming economy. In the 1950 school year, there were 77 vocational schools on the island with 34,500 students; of these, 23,000 were in junior vocational schools and 11,500 in the senior schools. Student distribution indicated the degree of Taiwan's industrialization at the time: agricultural schools, 35.4 percent; commercial schools, 32 percent; industrial schools, 25.7 percent; and others, 6.9 percent.
By 1986 the number of vocational schools had increased to 204, and the number of students to 438,000, all of whom were in senior vocational schools. Student distribution was radically different from the earlier figures: industrial schools, 49.27 percent; commercial schools, 34.47 percent; agricultural schools, a significant drop to 4.37 percent; home economics, 7.48 percent; nursing and midwifery, 2.85 percent; marine products, 1.4 percent; and opera and arts, 0.16 percent.
This dramatic shift in the structure and content of vocational education was supervised in large part by the Department of Junior College Education of the Ministry of Education, established in 1968. Renamed the Department of Technological and Vocational Education in 1973, it is the top administrative organization for VTE in Taiwan and continues to emphasize both the economic and training sides of its mission.
Dr. Kirby Yung, the Director General of the Department since December 1986, says that vocational programs are still in flux due to Taiwan's shifting industrial base toward producing more value-added goods and services.
Construction engineering students combine theory and practice—there are stress lines in the economy as well.
"The vocational and technical curriculum is designed to follow current socioeconomic and technological trends," he explains. "The ROC is an export-oriented economy, so we have to monitor even slight changes in the global economy or political situation. A shift in international consumption of a crucial commodity can bring a boom or bust situation to the local scene, depending on how our producers react. Producers and policy makers must be exceptionally attentive and responsive to market mechanisms. This means we must be ready to modify our technological and vocational training programs almost at a moment's notice. Flexibility is a must."
This responsiveness to change is possible thanks to a complex array of vocational and technical schools. These are divided into three levels: senior vocational schools, junior colleges, and technological institutes (see Table 1).
Senior vocational schools, like the regular senior high schools, have a three-year curriculum. There are currently twice as many high school age students attending vocational schools as those attending regular senior high schools, indicating the importance placed on VTE training in the ROC (see Table 2). A total of 212 senior vocational schools provide a selection of 98 specialized courses in eight categories: industry, commerce, home economics, agriculture, nursing and midwifery, marine products, opera and the arts, and medical aide training.
There are three types of junior colleges, depending upon the source of students. Those that serve senior high school and senior vocational school graduates are three-year institutions. Graduates of senior vocational schools may enter two-year or three-year junior colleges. Five-year junior colleges, yet another category, take students who have just graduated from junior high school.
In 1988, Taiwan's 71 junior colleges served more than 271,000 students, an increase of about 15,000 over the previous year. The junior colleges offer approximately 110 subjects in 12 fields, including industry, commerce, practical nursing, home economics, agriculture, journalism, and marine studies.
Shih Chien College, dedicated mainly to home economics, Ming Chuan College, which emphasizes trade and commerce, and the World College of Journalism are typical schools in the VTE system. Training programs are directed toward semiprofessional jobs, often called "middle-level" occupations, such as typing, filing, business management, computer programming, training for legal secretaries, accounting, office supervision, store management, retailing, and wholesaling. Other junior colleges turn out paraprofessionals, such as X-ray technicians and dental hygienists.
Table 2. Number of Students Receiving Secondary Education, Academic and Vocational
The most advanced and capable junior college graduates have the opportunity to continue their education at the National Taiwan Institute of Technology (NTIT). Some students enter directly from junior college, others gain admission after two or more years of work experience. NTIT, established in 1974, added considerable sophistication to the VTE system, and has become an important source of Taiwan's high-tech industry employees and managers.
Eight departments at NTIT offer four-year degrees, and some students continue for advanced degrees in its Graduate School of Engineering. Both undergraduate and graduate programs emphasize the integration of theory with practice. With the island's growing need for high-tech personnel and engineering professionals, educational observers anticipate further expansion of the island's facilities for advanced technological education.
The information explosion in recent decades has forced workers to become specialists in an assortment of related fields. Graduate students at NTIT therefore have the option of taking related subjects not included in their field of study. Director General Yung explains that students at this level have clearer ideas about what subjects they need, especially after a couple of years of working experience.
"They can take mechanical and electronic engineering, as well as business management at the same time," he says. "Our aim is to solve the hard issues in industries. We encourage graduate students to search for the real and immediate problems in enterprises, so their studies can be used in concrete situations."
In response to changing national requirements, NTIT recently set up two more divisions: the Office of Technological Cooperation, and the Research Center for Technological and Vocational Education. These are specially designed to provide R&D assistance to local enterprises employing under 300 laborers. Such small to medium firms in fact constitute the vast majority of companies in the ROC, and contribute the most to the GNP. But these enterprises, unlike larger firms, rarely have sufficient funds or facilities to conduct their own R&D. NTIT helps overcome the research shortfall.
In these programs, NTIT accepts technicians recommended by their employers, for the applicants' practical experience takes precedence over other qualifications. Training emphasizes immediate application to the workplace. Altogether, about 4,000 students are enrolled in the high-level technical education programs at NTIT.
Besides NTIT, there is one other educational institution for advanced vocational training in Taiwan, although it has a narrower scope of course work. The National Taiwan College of Marine Science and Technology trains students in ocean-related subjects, including aquaculture. In 1985, the College added the Department of Nautical Engineering and the Department of Engineering. This move added 200 more students, bringing the total close to 2,000.
Other technological institutions are in the planning stages. "Three private junior colleges have already applied for approval to convert into technological institutes," Yung says. "This represents a shift in the orientation of technical education. The tertiary sector is on the rise, as the secondary sector was previously. The pattern of economic development since 1960 is changing, so vocational education must adapt accordingly."
Despite these adjustments, the VTE system is beginning to experience enrollment problems, especially in the vocational programs. Last year, vocational students numbered around 444,000, a decline of nearly 3,000 students from 1987.
"These figures reflect a diminishing birthrate that began about 15 years ago, and all indicators point to a continuing decline," Yung says. "By the year 2000, there will be only 280,000 children eligible for schooling if trends remain the same." Some of the slack in numbers can be made up by reducing class sizes and other forms of educational upgrading, a process already reflected in somewhat expanded government funding for education.
But Yung believes the junior college system must be substantially overhauled to better assist the economic restructuring required for the ROC to compete as a more developed nation. "The junior college subsystem is too complicated and inefficient as it stands, so we are proposing that the three-year institutions be abolished," he says. "The skills taught there do not fit today's needs, and the other junior colleges can better supply local industrialists with the highly skilled laborers and technicians who will move the nation forward. Cheap, minimally-trained laborers who change jobs frequently to seek higher pay can no longer support economic growth."
Sharpening abilities—the new emphases in vocational programs are rooted in decades of success.
Yung emphasizes that the changes must be done posthaste. "So far, industrial development has been the keystone in the economy, often to the neglect of other spheres such as agriculture, marine sciences, and commerce," Yung says. "But the situation is changing rapidly, and an emphasis on industrial knowledge is going to start obstructing the development of more advanced technical areas. The Ministry of Education, especially the Technical and Vocational Education Department, has its work cut out for it. They have to find a new approach."
To meet the increasing demand for more skilled manpower, educational authorities are expanding opportunities for vocational education and training for the tertiary industries. But the effort requires extensive coordination among different government departments, a task rarely easy in bureaucracies. The Vocational Department, for instance, must work with the Industrial Development Bureau, the Council of Agriculture, and the Council for Cultural Planning and Development. And activities must be based on solid research, carried out by the Manpower Planning Department of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, and by the Department of Health.
The speed of change in the VTE system is further impeded by disagreement among educators about the best approach to adopt. Many propose that vocational education begin only after students finish senior high school, not junior high. This idea is supported by research indicating that people form their basic aptitudes at an age later than previously thought. Experts have raised the possibility of 12-year compulsory education, and suggest that what Taiwan needs most is an upgraded services sector to cope with expanding demand.
An emphasis on developing pure technological skills for industry obviously does not fulfill that demand. Today, skills in general subjects, such as languages or management, are essential to economic success. Educators argue that a 12-year compulsory education system would help produce such capabilities in Taiwan's labor force.
But Yung confesses that a 12-year compulsory system is a long way off. It would require a substantial budget, and it may not even be attractive to all young people. During the 1987 school year, 68,000 of the 410,000 students who could apply for further studies after junior high school did not do so. These students thus entered the labor force with low vocational and academic training. Because of their limited skills, they will be unable to fill vital positions in high-tech and service industries. These dropouts from the educational system exacerbate the labor shortage problems faced by many local firms. They also lack sufficient work incentives, partly due to limited employment opportunities and lower wages, and partly a result of recent inclinations among laborers to avoid manual, low-skill employment.
"There are many causes for the shortage of workers, such as greater job differentiation, a fast-growing but undeveloped service sector, and a rising standard of living," Yung says. "But this is a big waste of manpower. Our economy needs those 68,000 young people to support industry."
The need for workers has generated another problem as well—illegal foreign labor. As the working population diversifies into new fields, most people move away from heavy manual labor. Construction and assembly line workers, for example, are suddenly in very short supply. As a result, many employers turn to less developed countries to obtain employees who will take the low-paying jobs no one else wants.
The reluctance of local workers to perform the same jobs they formerly did stems to a great extent from what Yung describes as "centrifugal forces" exerted on laborers. From the standpoint of the workers, those forces are generated by the attractiveness of other forms of employment, and the increasing unattractiveness of their own jobs. "For example, sailors were plentiful in the past because they received their wages mostly in U.S. dollars, and those wages were three to five times higher than those of workers on land," Yung explains. "But as the New Taiwan dollar appreciates, the comparative advantage of a seaman's income has narrowed to only twice as much. The hardship and risk of the job is no longer worthwhile, and employment opportunities on land simply offer a better trade-off."
The import of alien labor may help alleviate the labor shortage in the short run, but the experience of other countries demonstrates that new problems will quickly follow. Imported labor cannot solve the primary problems in local industries. Even without the artificial support of cheap foreign labor, local industrialists will eventually have to attract manpower by improving welfare and the work environment. In the end, they will have to improve the industrial structure to remain competitive in international markets. Foreign labor simply slows down this process.
"Serious problems can arise when foreigners immigrate to a country to fill economic slots that locals turn down," Yung says. "In Germany, many laborers were brought in to rebuild the country after World War II. But now those imported workers and their descendants don't want to leave, thus generating social and economic tensions. If entrepreneurs want to cut the costs of production in Taiwan, I would advise them to change the face of industrialization rather than look for short-term gains with foreign employees. On the government side, a long-term policy on alien labor—or laws prohibiting it—should be considered to avoid any socially-disruptive effects."
Both the development of the VTE program and the process of structural upgrading could well be retarded if foreign labor becomes a support for labor-intensive industries. Taiwan has reached a threshold where failure to enter a more technologically and socially advanced phase of development could undermine its hard-earned "economic miracle." Educators call on schools to act as agents of social improvement and innovation, because economic progress depends on a labor force with upgraded skills.
"The time is right for the ROC to widen its VTE programs to include many other areas besides industrial training," Yung says. "Flexible planning in education is just as essential now in confronting the challenge of development as it has been for the last two decades."