| Synopsis: |
Taiwan ranks highly among world exporters and has seen a rapid change in its economy, linked to a range of manufacturing technologies. Taiwan's education budget amounted to US$17.6 billion in 1994, representing just over seven per cent of the gross national product. This compares with approximately 5.2 per cent for the UK. This report presents the findings of a visit to Taiwan, undertaken by three of Her Majesty's Inspectors, to assess how the school system was supporting such rapid growth, focusing on vocational education between the ages of 14-19, and looking at its place within the latter stages of compulsory education and the early stages of post-compulsory education. Since 1992, a national system of vocational qualifications has been introduced in the UK which has led to an increased interest in the curriculum offered to post-16 students and, increasingly, to the need to introduce a system of vocational course for pre-16 year olds. It is in view of these developments that the visit to Taiwan took place and this subsequent report produced. |