Beiyi Girls' High School, Jianguo Middle School and Taichung No.1 Middle School have recently initiated the establishment of a "High School Pathway to University", hoping that students in science classes can directly enter university after passing the academic certification examination, eliminating the pressure of preparing for university special research and entrance exams at the same time in their senior year of high school. Chen Wenwen, president of National Taiwan University, said today (17th) that this proposal may involve the issue of fairness in admissions. Students from the 10 high schools with science classes cannot only enjoy special admissions channels. It is recommended that all students should still take entrance examinations. Students with special academic performance can also enter the university through the existing special selection channels.
There are currently 10 high schools in Taiwan that have science classes. The original "2+1 model" was adopted. After students completed high school core courses in their first and second years of high school and passed the joint qualifying examination, they could participate in university special research in their third year of high school and gain early exposure to the university academic environment. However, due to current regulations, even if students pass the qualification examination, they still cannot directly obtain university status and must participate in the university admissions pipeline separately.
Therefore, Beijing No. 1 Girls' High School, Jianzhong High School and Taichung No. 1 Middle School recently put forward suggestions in meetings related to science classes. They hope that the Ministry of Education will consider the establishment of a special law for high school students to go to university, and upgrade the current joint qualifying examination for science classes from high school students to senior students to a high-level academic qualifications certification test. This will serve as the basis for students to directly enter university, so that students with scientific research abilities can connect to university education early.
National Taiwan University held a school meeting today. Chen Wenwen said that this proposal "may have fairness issues" because not all high schools have science classes, and students from these 10 high schools cannot be given priority in further studies. If the enacted special law only applies to a few schools, other high schools may also have opinions, and may even be questioned as a system tailor-made for specific high schools.
Chen Wenzhang believes that university admissions should still consider the fair participation opportunities of all students, and recommends focusing on large-scale entrance examinations that students from all schools can take to avoid differences in admission opportunities due to attending different high schools.
As for science class students who must take into account university special research and academic test preparation in their senior year of high school, Chen Wenwen pointed out that the current university admissions system has a special selection channel. If students have outstanding performance in physics, chemistry, mathematics and other fields, have participated in international competitions, won international awards, or published research results in high school, they can apply for university through special selection.
Chen Wenwen said that these specific academic achievements are easier to obtain objective recognition and are more suitable for entering universities through the special selection system. They do not necessarily need to formulate separate special laws.
