Taiwan Makes Changes to College Entrance Exams

For VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

Taiwan’s yearly university admissions tests have just taken place. Tens of thousands of students tried to give the right answers to math and language questions. High scores permit students to enter top schools. The current examinations require that students memorize facts in high school classes. They do not test critical thinking or creative problem solving abilities.

Officials in Taiwan plan to change the admissions test. They also want to measure imagination and innovation abilities. That is when one has new ideas about how something can be done. Taiwanese officials see the progress China and South Korea are making in the information technology field. By comparison, Taiwan is losing technology business.

The Ministry of Education wants to help young Taiwanese to innovate. So, it will begin a new process to choose university students. They hope the best schools will start to accept people with new business ideas. The new system will take effect in 2018.

Ma Hsiang-ping is the ministry’s deputy director for higher education. She told VOA the new exam system will look for people interested in invention or starting businesses. She said Taiwan will lose competitiveness if all the inventing is done in other countries. She said the ministry hopes new admissions policies will reshape the 12-year public education system. She said it should not focus only on memorization of facts but also on the growth of other skills. The results of the exams this year will decide the admissions of 146,000 people. Many are seeking to attend the 10 highest-rated schools.

For VOA Learning English, I'm Alex Villarreal.