Under the proposals, mainland Chinese high school graduates can apply to universities in Taiwan on the basis of their “higher education exam” scores starting next year.
The MOE said the government will allow a maximum of 2,000 mainland Chinese students to enroll at schools in Taiwan. Of these, one half will attend four-year colleges, while the other half will attend technical schools.
Not more than two percent of students at any Taiwanese school can be from the mainland. The only exceptions to this rule are schools located on the offshore islands, which can increase their quotas after applying for permission to do so.
As to the matter of recognizing diplomas from mainland Chinese schools, the MOE said the measure will be implemented in three phases. During phase one, which will last two years, only degrees issued by 41 mainland universities will be recognized.
During the second phase, the MOE will add to the list 55 schools, most of which will be graduate schools. But since a large number of these schools overlap with those from the first phase, only 19 additional new schools will be recognized.
Phase three will take the number of schools further to 112, but after subtracting those from phases one and two, only an additional 35 schools will in fact be added.
It is still not clear if the new policies will apply retroactively to students who received their degrees from mainland schools at an earlier date. Two recommendations are currently under discussion.
According to the MOE, one recommends recognizing all mainland degrees received after 1997. The other would not recognize past degrees, but would give those who graduated after 1992 the option of taking a certification exam which, if passed, would confer legitimacy on their diplomas.
The MOE also discussed Dec. 7 such details as how students from the mainland should obtain their student visas. According to Liao Gao-xian, section chief of the Department of Higher Education under the MOE, students from the mainland will receive two-year resident visas one month prior to their arrival in Taiwan. Their visas can be extended by up to two years each time.
But if the students take a leave of absence or withdraw from school, they will have to leave Taiwan within one month.
Beginning Dec. 9 the MOE will hold 17 public hearings nationwide on its proposals, which are expected to be submitted to the Legislature for approval January 2010. (HZW)