Fake Degrees: Taiwan

The Chinese Language media has reported that up to 40% of teachers in Taiwan possess fake university degrees and are unqualified to teach ESL. Some Taiwanese University officials site the easy availability of fake degrees in Thailand as one of the major sources for the large number of unqualified teachers. According to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), the amount of qualified foreign teachers at cram-schools, private language institutions, was down 9% from 2006. The gap needs to be filled and fake degrees seem to be doing the job right now for most employers who are just meeting the demands of the parents who want to see someone with blond hair and blue eyes teaching their children.

The supply and demand in Taiwan for foreign English teachers has certainly been exacerbated by the discretion of consulates taking it upon themselves to regulate the visas necessary to receive an Alien Registration Card (ARC). Anyone familiar with the process will know how much of a gamble it is to go to a consulate in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Vancouver, etc, and receive an extendable tourist-visa, the only visa that allows a teacher to receive an ARC card. And a potential teacher still needs to lie to the consulate and tell them they are just vacationing in Taiwan in order to receive the extendable tourist visa. I recently just tried this and the consulate in Bangkok granted me only a 60-day non-extendable visa, which meant I could not receive an ARC card. If Taiwan wants to clean up their act, they need to clean up their visa process so everyone can stop lying to each other.

For a full report, refer to:
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2007/12/19/135433/40%25-of.htm

By Spencer McCall