President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of July 26 with teacher and student representatives from Taiwan teams that won awards at the International Schools CyberFair 2012. The president, on behalf of the government, expressed his congratulations to the students from teams that won platinum prizes in categories related to local communities.
In remarks, the president stated that the Global SchoolNet Foundation began holding the International Schools CyberFair in 1995, creating an opportunity for multi-themed global website competition. Students from the teams participating in the competition serve as local ambassadors from their respective countries, helping to introduce the features of their respective hometowns to the rest of the world, he said. This year's competition was held under the theme "Dream and Unite." The president pointed out that 183 teams from 18 countries took part, and after two rounds of keen competition, the teams from the ROC ended up winning 23 platinum awards, 28 golds, 24 silvers, and 4 honorable mentions. These 79 awards accounted for 43% of the 160 awards issued at the competition, Taiwan’s biggest share since 2007, he said. In addition, this marked the 10th consecutive year that Taiwan came away as the biggest winner at the event, which points to the outstanding level of information technology education here, the president said.
The president stated that Taiwan has limited natural resources and consequently has to rely on brainpower to make a name for itself in the international community. This brainpower, he said, comes from education, which enables the nation and the community to advance. An important link in education is the fostering of a progressive international perspective, which enhances the quality of students, he added. This is why the government has put such an emphasis over the past four years on promoting the opening of campuses to international students at the higher education level. These efforts, he said, have already yielded preliminary results. Before he took office in 2008, for instance, the number of international students studying in Taiwan stood at some 30,000. Last year, however, that number had surpassed 55,000, and it is expected that 10% of the students at colleges and universities here will be from overseas by the year 2020, which is equivalent to 130,000 students. The president added that Taiwan possesses a number of advantages in higher education in comparison with other countries and areas. For example, many colleges and universities offer coursework entirely in English, while foreign students here also have the opportunity to learn Chinese. President Ma expressed his hope that in the future Taiwan's campuses will become more internationalized, and that this will generate an international perspective among students here, enabling them to be rooted in Taiwan but to have a global view and to be mindful and empathetic of others and other lifestyles. This, the president said, will help to realize the creation of universal values among students here.
President Ma also mentioned that in recent years mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore have been actively recruiting top talent from Taiwan. He commented that in his inaugural address after taking the oath of office for his second term, he emphasized the importance of "cultivating, recruiting, and retaining talent." The president explained that the government is promoting 12-year public education in order to optimize high school education and bring the quality of all high schools to a uniformly high level. The goal of this is to provide "education tailored to the individual," but under the precondition that education is accessible to all. This will enable each child to obtain a good education, and will help to elevate the quality of students across the board rather than limiting the best education to a limited number of schools in urban areas, the president added.
The president told the visitors that the government is actively establishing an environment in Taiwan's schools conducive to a strong foundation for information technology education here. For instance, equipment is being updated in computer labs in elementary and junior high schools throughout Taiwan, he said. In addition, 6,620 e-classrooms and over 37,000 digital learning classrooms have been established throughout Taiwan's elementary and junior high schools under a plan instituted in 2009 to promote an enhanced digital education environment at the primary and secondary levels. This initiative has been carried out under a broader economic revitalization project that has sought to expand public infrastructure investment. The president pointed out that the computer labs of the past have been transformed to more active learning centers where students can access digital environments both at home and at school. This, he said, will help to cultivate greater numbers of students with a talent in digital-related fields.
President Ma stressed that the government will continue to increase its education expenditures to provide children an outstanding learning environment. At the same time, he said the government hopes that students will also develop a habit of participating in sports and athletics, stay fit, and help Taiwan to continue to excel, he said.
The group, which comprised over 360 students and teachers, was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Deputy Education Minister Chen Der-hwa (陳德華) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was Deputy Secretary-General to the President Hsiung Kuang-hua (熊光華).