Four universities in Taiwan to close due to dip in enrolment
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Union of Private School Educators chair Wu Chun-chung told Central News Agency that the nation’s declining birth rate will affect high schools by 2025.
PHOTO: TAIPEI MUNICIPAL ZHONGZHENG JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
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Four universities in Taiwan will be closing in July following a dip in enrolment due to the island’s plunging birth rate, reported Taiwanese news outlets.
The universities include TransWorld University, Mingdao University, Tatung Institute of Technology, and Tungfang Design University.
The first three universities were given a six-month grace period by the education ministry to set things right, but they failed to do so. Their closures were finalised on May 31.
Tungfang Design University applied to suspend its enrolment between 2023 and 2024. The application was approved, and it will close in July.
About 728 students from the four universities have been reassigned to other schools for the new academic year beginning later in 2024, according to the ministry.
Union of Private School Educators chair Mr Wu Chun-chung told Central News Agency (CNA) that the declining birth rate will affect the enrolment in high schools by 2025, Taiwan News reported.
He said the impact on private schools will be greater, considering the lack of students and the preference for public schools.
Similarly, private universities will feel the crunch from 2028, Mr Wu said, adding that about 40 of Taiwan’s 103 private universities may face closure.
He told CNA that the number of students in private high schools might drop to less than 30,000 by 2038. At least 50 private high schools may be at risk of closure, he added.
To reduce the impact, Mr Wu made several recommendations for the education ministry to consider.
For private high schools, he suggested increasing teaching subsidies to reduce operational costs and ensure that the quality of education remain unaffected even with fewer students.
For private universities, he recommended bringing in students from abroad to make up for the lack of local students.
Taiwan is facing a worsening fertility crisis
In 2023, Taiwan’s total fertility rate was 0.87, among the world’s lowest. The global average was 2.3.
Besides Taiwan, countries such as Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Thailand are experiencing a similar phenomenon.
In Singapore, the Ministry of Education announced the merger of 46 schools in 2017 and 2021 due to falling birth rates and changing demographics in housing estates, while South Korea was set to record the lowest number of first-graders entering elementary school in 2024.
