Taiwan Higher Education Leads Southbound Effort
“National Taiwan University System” holds joint “Taiwan- Philippines Academic Exchange Forum” with the Philippine government, followed by a visit to the country’s Department of Science and Technology
Following its visits to Malaysia and Indonesia to conduct academic exchange and student recruitment, the NTU System—an alliance formed by National Taiwan University (NTU), National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) and National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU)—is once again sending a delegation abroad, this time to the Philippines, from January 10 to 13. During the three days, the NTU System will hold the “Taiwan-Philippine Academic Exchange Forum” with the Filipino government, visit its Department of Science and Technology, and establish ties for cooperation with renowned Filipino institutions of higher education.
The NTU System is holding the first “Taiwan-Philippine Academic Exchange Forum” in Manila on January 11. The Taiwan delegation will include heads of international affairs and student recruitment staff from the system, led by NTU Executive Vice President Ching-ray Chang, NTUST Vice President Duu-jong Lee and NTNU Executive Vice President Cheng-chih Wu. The delegates will meet and exchange thoughts with dignitaries including Taiwan’s representative to the Philippines Song-huann Lin, representatives from the Manila Economic and Cultural Office and officials from the Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines. Also participating in the forum are the presidents and vice presidents of numerous institutions for higher education in the country, including the University of the Philippines, the Philippines flagship state university in the country; Ateneo de Manila University; De La Salle University; and Asia’s oldest existing university, the University of Santo Tomas. During the forum, which will mark the first exchange with Filipino universities since the NTU System was established, the three universities from Taiwan will give presentations introducing their campuses, academic features, and teaching and research environments, to promote mutual understanding and foster the establishment of cooperation models for the future.
Representative Dr. Gary Song-huann Lin pointed out that the Philippines is the second most populous country in Southeast Asia, and has seen continued economic growth in recent years, with all sectors thriving. Together with the country’s ongoing educational reforms, Representative Lin said, he believes the Philippines has the most potential for further development among Southeast Asian nations.
Law, medicine and electrical engineering at NTU, information technology and design at NTUST, and music, humanities, education and sports at NTNU are fields in which these universities are leaders in Taiwan; they have long histories of nurturing talents in these areas and can claim many luminaries among their alumni. Since the NTU System was formed, the three universities have gradually integrated resources and are extending their joint capabilities to form bridges for cooperation with the higher education community of Southeast Asian countries.
The goal of the “Taiwan-Philippine Academic Exchange Forum” is not only to promote understanding of the NTU System among universities in the Philippines, but also to launch future cooperation and academic exchanges between teachers and students of the two countries. The visit was facilitated by the Manila Economic and Cultural Office and Taiwan’s representative office in the Philippines. Aside from the academic forum to be held on January 11, the Taiwan delegation will visit the Department of Science and Technology, in addition to meeting with the eighteen alliance schools to exchange thoughts on the education policies and environments in Taiwan and the Philippines.