International Student Movement

December 4th, 2013
Protests against Tuition Fees
and for Free Education ...

... in Taipei

Around 50 students gathered in front of the Ministry of Education in Taipei to protest increasing tuition fees. The rally was also called by the Anti-Commercialisation of Education Union (反教育商品化聯盟) - Free Education Movement, which was initiated during a meeting at the National Taiwan University following a similar protest in March 2012.

Various speeches were held, among others the severe debt many students are facing was pointed out. Many students in Taiwan - just like in many other parts of the world - are highly indebted. Each year about 400,000 students are forced to take up loans.

In Taiwan twice as many students attend private (technical) universities than public ones. Both charge tuition fees although for private ones they are significantly higher. They can afford to charge high fees because places at public institutions are limited and people need to pass a rigid selection process (usually through test results) before being able to enrol at a public university.
Ironically this makes the public universities elite institutions. Many are afraid that they might feel forced to attend private universities.

For details on the (higher) education system in Taiwan you might find this propaganda brochure from the Ministry of Education to be useful.

sources (in traditional Chinese):
facebook.com/NoHighTuition [Anti-Commercialisation of Education Union fb page]
appledaily.com.tw - video 1 - video 2 - video 3 - video 4

 

... in Bremen