Nine elite schools, led by Taipei First Girls', Chien Kuo and Taichung First, have asked the Ministry of Education for a special law to let science-class students skip entrance exams.
United Daily News reported late on the 10th that Taipei First Girls' High School, Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School and Taichung First Senior High School proposed a special law on direct university admission at a recent science-class meeting. Six more schools co-signed, making nine in all.
광고 문의 · 300×250The proposal would upgrade the science classes' existing joint qualifying exam, taken between grades 11 and 12, into an advanced academic certification that serves as the basis for direct admission, sparing students from large exams such as the scholastic test. Ten high schools run science classes, with 270 students in total.
The "2+1" design and the legal barrier
The program was designed as "2+1": core courses and the qualifying exam in the first two years, then research projects with universities in the third, so students would link up with university at 17 or 18. But the University Act and the Senior High School Education Act require a diploma or equivalent, and no special law exempts them, so students cannot gain formal university enrollment.
Taipei First Girls' principal Tsai Che-ming said the 2009 aim was to spare strong students from big exams so they could start research early, but no rule allows direct advancement. Students still sit the scholastic and subject tests in grade 12, "burning the candle at both ends."
Chien Kuo principal Chuang Chih-chun said a similar bill reached second reading in the legislature in 2015 but died when the session ended. The schools argue that falling births are sharply shrinking the top 1% of math and science talent and that the law is "not an admissions privilege but a necessary step to nurture research talent."
Ministry and teachers' responses
Chuang said the ministry told him legislation "really can't happen that quickly" and suggested students use the existing special talent admission route to avoid preparing for major exams.
A related UDN report quoted a parents' group as welcoming the spirit of the proposal but questioning whether direct advancement is necessary, and saying any exam used as the basis should be more open and institutionalized. A teachers' group worried that passing the qualifying exam could lock in a university place and, without safeguards, turn science classes into a "seat-grabbing privilege" for popular majors.