Taiwan's annual university admissions tests are taking place this week. Tens of thousands of students are trying to give the right answers to math and language questions. High scores permit students to enter the top schools.
台湾每年的大学入学考试都在这周举行。数万名学生都在试图答出数学和语言考题的正确答案。高分能让学生们进入顶尖名校。
However, these tests will not be in place for much longer. The current examinations require that students memorize facts in high school classes. They do not test critical thinking or creative problem solving abilities.
然而,这些考试可能举办不了多久了。当前考试要求学生们背诵高中课程内容,并不考察批判性思维或创造性解决问题的能力。
Officials in Taiwan plan to change the admissions test to also measure imagination and the ability to innovate.
台湾官员计划改革招生考试加以衡量想象力和创新能力。
Taiwanese officials see the progress China and South Korea are making in the information technology field. By comparison, Taiwan is losing technology business. There is concern that younger people are afraid of the risk of starting a company or inventing something.
台湾官员看到了中国和韩国在信息技术领域取得的进步。相比之下,台湾正在逐步失去科技业务。年轻人害怕开办公司或发明创造的风险也让人担忧。
The Ministry of Education wants to encourage young Taiwanese to innovate. So, it will begin a new selection process for university students. They hope the best schools will start to accept people with new business ideas.
台湾“教育部”希望鼓励台湾年轻人创新。所以它将会启动一项新的大学生选拨程序。他们希望顶尖学校能够开始录取具有新商业理念的学生。
The new admissions policy will take effect in 2018. It will include personal interviews with interested students. The Ministry wants high school graduates to show they excelled outside of class.
新的招生政策将于2018年生效,其中包括对感兴趣学生进行个人面试。教育部希望高中毕业生能够展示出他们在课堂之外表现出众。
Ma Hsiang-ping is the ministry's deputy director for higher education. She told VOA the new exam system will look for people interested in invention or starting businesses.
马湘萍(Ma Hsiang-ping)是台湾“教育部”高等教育司副司长。她对美国之音表示,新考试体系将会寻找对发明或创业感兴趣的人士。
She said Taiwan will lose competitiveness if all the inventing is done in other countries. She said the ministry hopes new admissions policies will reshape the 12-year public education system. She said it should not focus only on memorization of facts but also on the growth of other skills. Ms. Ma said that the written admissions test should be used only to show that a student has basic knowledge.
她说,如果所有发明都源自其它国家,台湾就会失去竞争力。她说教育部希望新招生政策能够重塑12年制的公共教育体系。她说教育体系不应该只注重记忆内容,还应该注重其它技能的发展。马女士表示,书面入学考试应该只用于表明学生具备基本知识。
Chang Wei-chun is a third-year law student at Ming Chuan University in Taipei. The student said Taiwan's educational reforms should carry into higher education.
常魏春(Chang Wei-chun,音译)是台北铭传大学法律系大三学生。他表示,台湾的教育改革应该延伸至高等教育。
Chang Wei-chun said that officials should promote innovation in classes at universities. The student said many students will not risk doing inventive work because their university education remains traditional.
常魏春表示,有关官员应该在大学课程中推进创新。他说,许多学生因为其大学教育仍然维持传统而不愿意冒险做创造性工作。
Taiwan is dependent largely on high-tech exports. The Swiss business school, International Institute for Management Development (IMD) made a list of the most competitive countries in 2014. Taiwan was at number 13, but Singapore was number 3 and Hong Kong was number 4. These numbers worry Taiwanese officials.
台湾很大程度上依赖于高科技出口。瑞士国际管理发展学院列出了2014年最具竞争力的地区。台湾位列第13位,但新加坡位列第3位,香港位列第4位。这些数字让台湾官员担忧。
About 300,000 students graduate each year from the almost 150 universities in Taiwan. The results of this year's exams will decide the admissions of 146,000 people. Many are seeking admission to the 10 highest-rated schools.
台湾每年大约有30万名学生从近150所大学毕业。今年的考试结果将决定14.6万人的录取。许多人都寻求进入排名前10的学校。
I'm Jill Robbins.
我是吉尔·罗宾斯(Jill Robbins)。
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