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(Last updated: 15 Nov 2011)
Trends and opportunities
The market
Taiwan’s educational system continues to undergo key reform with a stronger emphasis being placed on the internationalisation of the current education system. With Taiwan’s push to develop stronger linkages abroad, partner countries within the South-East Asia region have been targeted as potential sources markets.
Education is important for Taiwanese and entrance exams for the better known schools still remain highly competitive. Compulsory education is for nine years, with six years of primary school and three years of junior high school. Strong consideration is however being given to a compulsory 12 year system to be potentially implemented in 2012. In 2009, there were 1,230,202 graduates. Key graduating areas included:
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Primary school – 288,349
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Junior high – 316,080
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Senior high/Senior vocational schools – 236,190
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Bachelor degrees – 227,858
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Masters and PhD – 63,197
Taiwan education officials still value linkage-building opportunities with leading competitors in the market in the US and Australia. Institutions at all levels and especially universities are being encouraged to meet international benchmarks on research and cooperation.
The demand for overseas education and the size of the overall international education market is relatively stable however somewhat stagnate in recent years – Australia has been attracting solid Taiwanese student numbers since the late 1980s.
Additionally with the Australian Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa being introduced in Taiwan in November 2004, almost 30,000 WHM visas were granted to Taiwanese applicants up to July 2010. WHM visitor numbers for 2010-11 are again expected to surpass that of the previous reporting period and maintain consecutive growth since the program inception. The visa provides an attractive new option for young Taiwanese who wish to include a study component in their holiday plans in Australia. The Taiwanese were the sixth largest WHM visa holder group to enter Australia in 2009-10. English Australia’s statistics also suggest that a considerable portion of Taiwanese WHM visa holders engage in some form of ELICOS activity during their time in Australia.
Opportunities
Participants in the annual Study in Australia (SIA) exhibition in Taipei and Kaohsiung continue to provide valuable feedback on the market. In 2011 the SIA exhibition remained as the premier education and marketing promotional event for Australian education in Taiwan which was again warmly received by both industry and the general public:
- SIA 2011 attracted 59 Australian institution exhibitors across all sectors including 24 Australian universities. Additional changes to the SIA 2011 program included a refreshed exhibition layout for better visitor flow, a revised seminar program covering topics such as Alumni experience sharing and sector-specific briefings, a dedicated schools zone and more comprehensive services for Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visitors.
- Taiwan continues to remain a primarily postgraduate-oriented market at a Higher Education level with 59 per cent of Taiwanese Higher Education student commencements engaging in PG courses (to July 2011).
- Language studies (ELICOS) remains the largest sector for the Taiwan market accounting for 41 per cent of all student commencements in 2010, followed by Higher Education (34 per cent) and VET (18 per cent).
- Trends suggest that Taiwanese students are continuing to diversify their study interests and exploring new areas outside of the traditional commerce and IT courses. Across a number of study sectors, creative industries and arts (eg. graphic and design studies) in addition to hospitality-related courses are becoming increasingly attractive. With the Taiwanese economy progressively broadening its sector focus (eg. services, education and science), it is encouraging to see growth in non-traditional fields such as art, design, hospitality/tourism, and biotechnology.
- An increasing number of Taiwanese students study VET in Australia in particular courses relating to hospitality and management. This may be in response to the increase in inbound tourism into Taiwan in recent years.
- The Working Holiday Maker Program (WHM) is becoming increasingly popular amongst Taiwanese with WHM visitors increasing each year. Through Austrade initiated research, approximately 33 per cent of Taiwanese WHM visitors will engage in some form of study during their visit to Australia. A vast majority of those WHM visitors that study will engage in ELICOS courses. The full WHM report The Australian Working Holiday Maker Visa Program (WHM) Taiwanese Market Review is available through the Austrade Market Information Package service.
Competitive environment
Taiwan is a stable and mature market for Australia. Going abroad to study is now more of a consumer’s choice, with students becoming increasingly savvy in selecting programs that offer the best value for the time and money spent. Prospective students often rely strongly on online materials as part of their decision making process.
Traditionally, USA, UK and Australia have been the most popular choices for overseas study. In 2010 Australia was considered the second most popular study destination for Taiwanese students for the second consecutive year, Australia’s highest ever ranking within the Taiwan market.
However Taiwan continues to become an extremely competitive market, in particular Asian neighbouring countries in Japan and China who have noticeably increased their Taiwanese student recruitment activities in recent times resulting in a boost in enrolment numbers.
The table below provides an indication of the distribution of Taiwanese students travelling abroad for study purposes:
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| Country |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
| USA |
16,451 |
14,916 |
19,402 |
15,594 |
15,890 |
| Australia |
2,862 |
2,570 |
2,370 |
4,176 |
3,633 |
| UK |
9,653 |
7,132 |
5.885 |
3,895 |
3,610 |
| Japan |
2,108 |
2,424 |
2.638 |
3,143 |
3,253 |
| Canada |
1,997 |
2,014 |
3,266 |
2,320 |
2,814 |
| France |
690 |
723 |
983 |
882 |
935 |
| Germany |
512 |
606 |
558 |
646 |
702 |
| NZ |
538 |
618 |
596 |
469 |
379 |
| Sub-total |
34,811 |
32,973 |
35,698 |
31,125 |
31,216 |
| Other |
2,360 |
2,018 |
2,102 |
2,214 |
2,665 |
| TOTAL |
37,171 |
34,991 |
37,800 |
33,339 |
33,881 |
(Source: Ministry of Education)
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