Taiwan's lessons for our industries

• Main Author: Abd Razak, Dzulkifli
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: L Education (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/33621/1/DZUL387.pdf; http://eprints.usm.my/33621/

THE visit to Taipei 101, the world's highest building, was more than just a touristic event. The tower, that stands at 508m, elegantly pierces through the skyline of the Taiwanese metropolis. Still, the science and technology adviser to the office of the President remarked that much more still needs to be done. In higher education, too, there are problems. Based on a keynote address delivered by a top Taiwanese human resource industrialist at an International Conference on Technological and Professional Higher Education recently, some of the major problems sound familiar. Among others, student quality is said to be deteriorating, although the qual ity of teachers is perceived to be getting better. There is also the issue of "diploma inflation" where graduates who harbour higher expectations do not yield higher quality.