Education and economic growth in Taiwan: A case of successful planning

Abstract

Taiwan's education system had three features which were instrumental to its spectacular economic success. First, it had an infrastructure already built up by 1950 for basic education that extended fairly broadly among the population. Second, a ready supply of highly educated labor arrived in 1949-50 from the Mainland to replace the Japanese and to begin the process of building the local economy. Most important, the education system was planned to grow in a manner that closely matched the changing requirements of the growing economy. The compulsary basic education was raised from six to nine years, the secondary level curriculum was shifted more toward vocational fields, the supply of university graduates was strictly limited, and the university curriculum changed to emphasize science and engineering subjects. The levels above basic junior high level were expanded, but disproportionately into the private sector so they were not as costly to the government. © 1991.