Release Date 24 March 2022     Mandarin

Vocational education is vital to prepare students to be career-ready with academic, employability, and technical, career-specific skills.

On March 21, NKUST invited presidents of 14 vocational high schools to a lunch meeting to introduce a varied program of the University that aim to support young students to develop the key skills for the future world of work. Through this meeting, NKUST received great insights from high schools that could help the University embed effective skills in lessons within students’ learning.

“For the past four years, NKUST has put great efforts to develop better curriculum, educational programs, and training facilities to cultivate our students to be equipped with knowledge and skills while they decide their future career pathway,” says NKUST’s president Yang Ching-Yu.

With an uptick in the demand for professional workers and the retirement rate among active senior workers in fields, these issues urge educational institutions to train young professionals for the future.

To provide a highly trained, educated, skilled workforce, NKUST is planning to recruit 200 new vocational education teachers in the coming two years.

In the following five years, the University expect to recruit 350 new faculty members in total, and the total number of faculty members will increase from 850 to 1000.

Dr. Hsieh, Shu-Ling, Dean of OAA, added that the University will ensure all teaching recruits receive a 36-hour training workshop to improve class management. It is hoped that young teaching faculty will motivate students to learn the necessary skillsets for their future.

NKUST cares about the teaching quality of our faculty members and strives to provide students with well-designed curricula that can fulfill students' academic and career needs.

Therefore, NKUST has the highest number of MOE Teaching Practice Research Programs (TPRPs) undergoing among universities across the nation. Moreover, NKUST won Best General Education School of the Year 2021.

In the face of talent shortage in industries, NKUST established the Center for Interdisciplinary Innovative Teaching (跨域教學創新中心). It integrates resources from the government, academics, and industry to create innovative strategies to cultivate managerial talents for a variety of industries.

Students can enroll in these programs in the latter half of their junior year, take a PBL course in the upper half of their senior year, and start internships in the last semester.

These well-designed programs help companies quickly identify and retain talents in the graduation season. Thus, many enterprises are eager to cooperate with colleges to reserve young professionals in advance.

“Corporations are seeking solutions to recruit the best graduate talent. Similarly, students and parents also are looking for universities or colleges that can provide multiple resources to improve students' job-seeking qualifications for future job hunting,” says CCVS president Kao, Jui-Hsien (高瑞賢).

In addition to providing versatile programs, NKUST values the training of future teachers for vocational institutions. The Center for Teacher Education, established last year, will also be the cradle of the teaching faculty of vocational high schools and colleges.

Translated/Edited by Jess Lin