The Ministry of Education in Taiwan has announced plans to introduce 116 collaboration programs between academia and industry, offering opportunities for up to 2,120 international students. Scholarship support and visa assistance will be provided. Yang Yu-hui, the Director of the Department of Technological and Vocational Education, shared details of the initiative at the National Conference for University Presidents. Both universities and vocational schools are set to launch 58 new programs each, with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Of these, 93 programs will be in STEM fields, 15 will concentrate on semiconductors, and eight will be in finance.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Education has outlined plans to establish recruitment bases in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia by the end of the current month. With Taiwan anticipated to lose its demographic dividend by 2028, the nation aims to achieve an average annual population growth of 3 percent, necessitating the attraction of 400,000 immigrants by 2030. Emphasizing the importance of international students, who are already acquainted with the country and have benefited from its educational resources, the Director highlighted their potential as economic migrants. To retain this valuable talent pool, the ministry proposes initiatives such as encouraging schools to create international student divisions, offering basic Mandarin courses, expanding existing academia-industry collaboration programs, and easing regulations for international students seeking employment opportunities in Taiwan.
The ministry is actively promoting collaboration between schools and businesses for the establishment of new programs, aiming to facilitate this initiative. To support international students, the National Development Fund of the Executive Yuan will allocate scholarship funds, while companies are expected to contribute subsidies to assist with living expenses. The National Development Council is considering policies that would allow international students to include their time studying in Taiwan when calculating the total duration of stay, particularly for those seeking an Alien Permanent Resident Certificate. In the case of scholarship recipients, they would gain additional "points," eliminating the need to apply for a work visa through the points system. Instead, their applications would be directly processed by the Ministry of Labor.
