TAIPEI: The proposed recognition of mainland universities will not lead to an exodus of Taiwan's top students, the education authorities said yesterday.

According to Lin Tsung-ming, deputy chief of the "Ministry of Education", said the move will instead prompt universities on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to engage in healthy competition.

Lin said that Taiwan universities have the competitive edge, and there is no need to worry about the "magnetic effect" of mainland schools.

He also said that the authorities are planning a phased recognition of diplomas from more than 100 top mainland universities, with 41 schools to be accredited in the first stage, 55 in the second stage and a yet undecided number in the third stage.

This means that Taiwan students wishing to study on the mainland will have limited choices, he said. Besides, Taiwan is an open society and its students can go wherever they wish to pursue higher education, he added.

"Local universities, rather than worrying about losing students, should work harder to upgrade their quality so that their students can compete with those from top universities elsewhere," Lin said.

Lin was responding to legislator Kuan Bi-ling of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party who expressed misgivings over the possible effects of the government's plan.

Kuan said that mainland universities could indeed attract top Taiwan students, and she cited the example of Executive Yuan chief Wu Den-yih's son who obtained a doctorate in law from Tsinghua University in Beijing.

A government spokesman later in the day responded that Wu's son had studied for his master's degree in the United States and later worked for a Taiwan businessman. He did his doctorate in Beijing under a company personnel development program, the spokesman said.

Lin also said that local universities would be allowed to admit mainland students through a joint entrance examination, and in the initial stage would only accept newly graduates.

However, if necessary, specific universities could also hold individual entrance exams, he added.

If the proposal is approved by the legislature, mainland senior high school students and college graduates could enter Taiwan universities by September 2010, according to Lin.
 

（www.eduwo.com, Anna）