President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of November 18 met with ROC delegations that participated in international and Asian mathematics and science Olympiads in 2011. During the meeting, the president remarked that the Executive Yuan has already passed draft amendments to the Act Governing the Budgeting and Administration of Education Funds. Prior to its amendment, the act mandated that the aggregate education funds appropriated by governments of all levels must be no less than 21.5% of average net annual revenue over the previous three fiscal years. The amendment ups the minimum percentage to 22.5%. This, he said, will add NT$20 billion of funds to education budgets, thereby injecting greater resources into the education system and helping to cultivate more talent here.
The president also remarked that Taiwan's higher education is winning increasing attention throughout the world. For instance, countries from southeast Asia—such as Vietnam, Thailand, India, and Indonesia—plan to publicly fund over 4,100 students over the coming 10 years to come to Taiwan to do research in the field of vocational education. The president added that presently about 50,000 students from overseas are studying in Taiwan and that the government hopes this number will increase to 130,000 by 2020, which would constitute one-tenth of the total number of university students here. This will help transform Taiwan into an Asia-Pacific hub for higher education, thereby attracting a greater number of outstanding students to Taiwan and promoting internationalization of Taiwan's campuses. At the same time, this greater internationalization would help promote broader global perspectives and values, helping our students to be neither humble nor haughty, more empathetic, and able to look at various issues more objectively, the president said.
President Ma mentioned that the various academic competitions—including the 2011 Asian-Pacific Mathematics Olympiad, Asian Physics Olympiad, International Mathematical Olympiad, International Physics Olympiad, International Chemistry Olympiad, International Biology Olympiad, International Olympiad in informatics, and International Earth Science Olympiad—were held from July to September of this year. Students from Taiwan won a total of 21 gold medals, 15 silvers, six bronzes, and three honorable mentions, with every participant from Taiwan winning distinction on some level. At the 42nd International Physics Olympiad held in Thailand, each of the five students from Taiwan won a gold medal, and Taiwan's performance was the best in the world both on a team and individual level among the 393 students from 84 countries taking part. Meanwhile, at the 5th International Earth Science Olympiad held in Italy, students from Taiwan came away with three gold medals and one silver, putting Taiwan in a tie for the best performance with South Korea. President Ma commented that the 22nd International Biology Olympiad was held in Taipei between July 10 and July 17 this year. A total of 229 outstanding students from 58 countries attended, and all four students representing Taiwan won gold medals, enabling Taiwan to put in the second best performance of any nation participating. All of these results point to the achievements of science education here and the top-notch performance of Taiwan's students participating in these activities, the president said.
President Ma noted that the international community began holding science and mathematics Olympiads at a variety of academic levels starting back in 1959. Presently, the Asia-Pacific mathematics and Asian physics competitions are among the most prominent in Asia, while international competitions of this sort include international mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, information, and earth science Olympiads. The ROC, he stated, began sending students to participate in these events from 1991, and the performances of our students over the years have been admirable. President Ma noted that the Ministry of Education has established the ROC International Mathematics and Science Olympiads Association with the hope of sharing this legacy and experience among students and cultivating even more outstanding students to participate in these events.
Lastly, the president again praised the students for winning medals and other forms of distinction during the competitions, and expressed his hope that everyone will not only continue to pursue excellence in their respective scientific fields, but will also work to absorb information in a variety of fields in order to become well-rounded individuals.
The student representatives were accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Education Minister Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was Deputy Secretary-General to the President Liu Bao-guey (劉寶貴).