Where do Taiwanese high school students go to hang out after school lets out? For most of them, the answer is likely cram school (busiban). The vast majority of Taiwanese junior and senior high school students can be found on weekday evenings in the ubiquitous cram schools throughout the island, doing what it takes to score high marks on the college entrance exam. Although cram schools are optional, they are no doubt an integral part of many young students’ educational experience in Taiwan and act as an informal part of the local education system’s foundation. Getting out of class only to go to cram school, often until late at night, certainly puts Taiwanese high school students under a great deal of pressure, even though few of them should be worried about getting into college. The university admission rate in 2007 was a record high of 96.3%, and this year it was an even higher 97.1%. Thirty years ago, there were only 28 universities in the country. Today there are 168 higher education institutions. Every year, tens of thousands of Taiwanese students, diploma in hand, begin to look for jobs on the island – only to realize that virtually everyone else their age is in the same situation. The high university attendance rate in Taiwan has caused many students to view graduate school as a near-necessity in order to find a good job.

What implications does such a large cohort of college-educated young adults have on the job market? What impact does the practice of attending cram schools have on Taiwanese students? What other problems does the education system in Taiwan face? And how does politics play a role in education? To get some insight into these questions and more, we talked to those who know the local education system best – Taiwanese university students. TOPICS asked a handful of local students from different parts of the country to talk to us about their current university studies, past experiences in education, as well as their hopes and concerns for the future. Below is a collection of responses from these interviews, some conducted in English and others translated from Chinese.

Peter Lin, 20, is from Taipei and is currently studying Electrical Engineering at National Taiwan University in Taipei. After graduating, he plans to go on to grad school in the United States.
I chose EE (Electrical Engineering) because of the industrial background in Taiwan. After I graduate, I will probably go to the States for graduate school because it would provide me with better resources in my field. Also, I hope to go to the U.S. because I want to go on a double track with EE and biotech, and since the biotech industry is only starting to develop in Taiwan, more opportunities lie abroad. For finding a job, in my field I think there will always opportunities in Taiwan.

As far as China is concerned, I know the economy is booming, but I just went there and the infrastructure and living standards still aren’t very good. However, China provides a cheaper but still well-educated labor force, and I think that is a major source of pressure for many people here, especially young students. We need to rethink our entire global position or else we’re going to lose everything to China. One way to do this is to pursue high-tech. For instance, in manufacturing computer chips, we’re still several years ahead of them and we have a well-built infrastructure. I think if we can emphasize this infrastructure, speed up the production line, and emphasize innovation instead of mass production, then that would probably save our economy.

The major problem I can see in Taiwan’s education system is that we have this ideal of everyone getting a higher education. We’ve come to this phenomenon of everyone going to college but then not doing anything. I hope we can move to a phase where those who can really do something with their education put forth their effort and money to go to university while the others can come out (of high school) and look for a job. But I think that’s a tough spot for parents in Asia because face is important, and if your child doesn’t go to university, you lose face.

Another problem is the lack of creativity at school. Here, usually when professors ask students questions, most people are too afraid to answer, even though we’ve been encouraged many times that it’s okay to be wrong. But I think it’s already become deeply embedded in our culture that we need to just be obedient and get good grades.

Lin Jin-bang, 22, is a first-year grad student at the Chinese Cultural University’s Graduate Institute of Sport Coaching Science in Taipei. Originally from Changhua, he did his undergraduate studies at National Taiwan College of Physical Education in Taichung. He is also a professional basketball player for Puyuan, a team in the local Super Basketball League (SBL).
I chose to study sports because I’ve loved sports ever since I was a kid. I want to keep moving higher with my sports training to figure out how I can improve my own athletic performance. In graduate school, we are always learning very different things. Part of it is learning how to be a coach, and figuring out ways to manage and motivate players. But we also learn the more scientific side of sports, such as nutrition and physical training.

After I graduate, I hope to move in the direction of coaching or teaching. Even though I’m most familiar with basketball, we are trained in graduate school to be able to coach a wide range of sports, so I may not necessarily teach basketball. I will look for a job in Taiwan, although I would like to go further south and not live in Taipei. When you read the newspaper, it seems like it’s very difficult for teachers to find a job. Many schools don’t have open positions, and nowadays you feel that you must obtain the highest education possible or else you won’t find a job. There are a lot of young teachers looking for positions, but the problem is that many of the older teachers don’t really want to retire, leaving few open spots. These older teachers have the thinking that they might as well keep teaching since after so many years it’s not that difficult, and schools are reluctant to fire these teachers.

In my opinion, the education system isn’t bad. But everyone has their own opinions based on their own experiences, so it really depends on whom you ask. For young students, it’s pretty relaxed, but once you get to junior and senior high school, there’s a lot more pressure. The teachers in Taiwan are pretty good and care for the students. At the university level, you really have to work hard and push yourself. You can’t rely on your teachers anymore to make sure you’re keeping up. Also, unlike before, everyone is learning English now. I think this is good, because people can’t stay in Taiwan all the time. It’s important to learn English since it is an international language.

Cindy Chang, from Hsinchu, is a 21-year-old Economics major at the National Chung Cheng University in Chiayi. She plans to apply for graduate school in the United States or England next year.
I am studying economics because this is the program I got into when I took the college entrance exam. I like economics now, but I was studying science in senior high school. I hope to graduate early – at the end of this semester – and then go to English cram school in Taipei. Next year I hope to go to graduate school in America or England. In my heart, I feel I don’t want to grow up yet. Studying abroad is a way to travel and not have the pressure of finding a job, while at the same time it is acceptable to my parents.

In graduate school, I’ll probably want to study business or art, because before high school I was really into painting. One problem of the education system in Taiwan is the idea that subjects (such as art) that may not make money are not worth studying. So in high school I ended up studying science, and then because of the entrance exam, I ended up studying economics in university. I believe a good point of Taiwan’s education is the emphasis placed on ethics and social values. Also, the education system ensures that the foundation for the children is built one step at a time, but this can also limit how much children can think freely. This is because they want every child to learn the same thing as everyone else. But still, the education system protects children well. Although it doesn’t allow us to have much freedom, it prevents children from coming into contact with negative influences as much as possible.

There is a lot of pressure on high school students. A lot of people say junior and senior high school is a student’s most difficult and painful six years, because if you don’t do well on your exams, the second half of your life is over. However, I feel that college life is very free and relaxed. In college, your parents don’t control you as much as they did in high school and your pressure will not come from huge tests but from your desire to pursue your own goals. So I think Taiwanese students make the biggest progress in college. College is the time when students really grow up mentally. Regarding the job market, I don’t think finding a job in Taiwan is that difficult. It just depends on whether or not you want it. And actually, I think that the economic situation isn’t really that bad, at least not as terrible as the news portrays it to be. In the future, I see myself living in Taiwan because this is my country and it’s a comfortable place for me.

Sophia Kao, a 20-year-old from Taipei, is a sophomore at National Taiwan University in Taipei. She is studying Japanese and hopes to work in Japan after graduation.
I decided to study Japanese so I could have an advantage over others who only speak Chinese and English since I would be able to speak three languages. But I don’t feel my Japanese is good now, nor will it be good enough when I graduate. There’s a lot of emphasis in our department on literature and culture, whereas private universities often prepare students better to be interpreters. I think it’s important to study something else in addition to language, such as economics or business, but in Taiwan you can only choose one major when applying to universities, and it’s very difficult to get another major.

After I graduate I hope to either do diplomatic work in Japan or work for a Taiwanese company there. I want to use what I’ve learned in school right away. I don’t think it should be too hard to find a job in Japan because NTU is quite famous in Asia. However, in the future I expect to settle down in Taiwan because my parents will be getting old, so it’s better to be here. This is good because I like Taiwan, but I just hope that the political situation gets better because Taiwan is not so politically stable now. I hope the job market will get better by the time I graduate, because currently it is not so good. I think China is a factor in this since it is always isolating Taiwan. I wish China could give up saying Taiwan is part of China, because then it would allow us to have more diplomatic relationships, which would greatly help our economy.

I think Taiwan’s education system is pretty bad. Elementary school is fine, but when you reach junior high school you have to start preparing for senior high school entrance exams, so you’re constantly studying. You don’t have the time to read the books you like or do the things you like. During these teenage years is the time when you develop your interest in things, but with the amount you have to study, there’s no time to do this.

In senior high school you have to choose which out of three courses of study you want to take (one being liberal-arts based, and the other two science and math based). Most people don’t know what they want to do when they’re 16 but they have to choose anyway and can’t change it! Taiwan should have the same system as the United States, where you get to study a little bit of everything. But Taiwan has very strong math education. Also I feel that the education system is quite fair because it doesn’t matter what socioeconomic background you come from, you can really excel in school if you try hard enough.

Natalie Chen, 21, is a junior from Hsinchu studying Applied English at Ming Chuan University in Taoyuan. After graduating next year, she hopes to find a job that will use and help her improve her English abilities.
I chose Applied English because I’m not very good at math, but also because I like making friends. I believe language is a tool to communicate with others and learn other cultures. Everyone says that if you’re an English major you’ll have a better future, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. I don’t have any professional skills, and English is not very useful by itself. I will try to find a job after graduating because I don’t really want to go to graduate school, but I think it’s difficult to find a job in Taiwan. I don’t think I’ll be able to get a job teaching English right away, so I will find another kind of job where I can use my English. I still have another year, but right now I don’t feel prepared at all to graduate because my English is not good enough.

Taiwan’s teaching methods are much different than other countries. I really don’t think the cramming method we use is a good way of teaching. I hope they will stop cramming and do something to help raise students’ motivation. Students have to want to learn. Taiwan’s education system is very complicated. Everyone in the administration has their own opinions and always wants to change the system. My younger sister, who is in elementary school, has had the educational system change twice for her in six years because different education ministers have different ways they want students to learn.

In Taiwan, everyone likes to talk about politics. There are two major parties and they both have an amount of influence on the education system. The minister of education should be a role model for students and teach students, but the former minister even used bad language on TV. It’s really a shame.

On the world stage, Taiwan is not a strong country. There are many countries that don’t even admit Taiwan is a country. So in Taiwan, I feel many people are struggling. When we have something to show to or share with the world, sometimes we get ignored. Many people put the Taiwanese people down. Maybe this is because we are moving backwards and not improving ourselves. Politicians are always fighting because both parties want to be in power, but they don’t get anything done. I think both parties are bad. We have been faced with inflation recently, and our economy is slowing down. They shouldn’t care about what party they are with and just make our economy stronger so that the Taiwanese can have a better life.

Blake Yeh is a 25-year-old Kaohsiung native studying at National Chung Cheng University in Chiayi. He is in his second year at the school’s Graduate Institute of Labor Studies after completing his bachelor’s degree in Labor Relations at the same school.
I studied labor relations in my undergrad years because I tested into it during the college entrance exam. Although it wasn’t near my first choice (I think it was my seventh), after four years I really came to like labor relations. I am now preparing to take the national exam after I graduate to hopefully become a public administration officer in the labor affairs sector. But my dream is that I’ll eventually open my own wedding planner business.

Personally, I didn’t have much pressure in school because I didn’t go to cram school (busiban) like most students. I think the motivation to study has to come from within the student. If you didn’t give yourself the pressure from going to cram school, would you still study? I think most students wouldn’t. But actually, I don’t think cram schools are bad. I think it’s smart to go, because it allows students to study a subject’s most important material in the shortest amount of time. At my senior high school in Kaohsiung, one of the best in Taiwan, about 42 students out of my class of 45 went to cram schools. Cram schools are very common in Taiwan, especially among students of top high schools. I don’t know why this is. Perhaps it’s because they’ve gone to cram school since elementary school, so continuing this is natural. Or maybe it’s because students feel that since the competition is so fierce, they need to go in order not to do worse than everyone else. But you still run into people who go to NTU or other top schools who have never gone to cram school.

I think there isn’t enough teaching of the humanities in the education system. It’s very focused on math, natural sciences, and history, so we really don’t have a strong awareness of our own culture. There is also a lack of creativity and creative thinking. It would be great to do things such as work as a class to figure out ways to cut unemployment to 3%, a goal that the new president [Ma Ying-Jeou] says he plans to reach, but unfortunately we don’t do anything like that. Although we have more projects and fewer tests in university, they don’t require much creativity. It’s more about finding information and putting it together with little of your own thinking involved.

I think finding a job isn’t difficult, but it’s just a matter of a good or a bad job. Since I’m graduating soon I’ve been attending job fairs, and actually there isn’t a lot of competition for HRM (human resource management) jobs, so I should be okay. I plan to stay in Taiwan, mainly because this is where my family is. Other people say, “I want to study abroad” or “I want to go to China to work,” but I think Taiwan is fine. But I want to still learn and improve my English, so I can’t really say for certain where I’ll be. I think when you look for a job, it’s important not to limit your opportunities.