| Legislative： |
1.Presidential Decree Hua Zong Yi.Yi.Zi.No.09100125210 issued June 26, 2002: promulgation of complete text of 23 articles, taking immediate effect.
2.Presidential Decree Hua Zong Yi.Yi.Zi. No.10300093731 issued June 18, 2014: promulgation of complete text of 22 articles, taking immediate effect.
3.Presidential Decree Hua Zong Yi.Yi.Zi. No.10700062401 issued June 13, 2018: Amendment to Article 4; Articles 7; Articles 8; Article 10; Article 15; Article 18; Article 20. |
| Content： |
Article 1
This Act is enacted to encourage lifelong learning, promote lifelong education, strengthen social education, increase learning opportunities, and improve the quality of the nation with cultural literacy.
Article 2
In this Act the term “competent authority” refers to: the Ministry of Education in the central government; the government of the special municipality in the special municipality; the county (city) government in the county (city).
Article 3
The terms used in this Act are defined as follows:
1. Lifelong Learning: refers to all types of learning activities that an individual engages in throughout his or her life.
2. Lifelong Learning Institution: refers to schools, institutions, agencies and organizations that provide lifelong learning.
3. Lifelong Learning Professionals: refer to professionals who are engaged in the planning, teaching and counseling of lifelong learning programs in lifelong learning institutions.
4. Elderly Learning: refers to the learning activities provided by lifelong learning institutions for people over 55 years of age.
Article 4
The types of lifelong learning institutions are as follows:
1. Social education institutions:
(1) Social education centers.
(2) Libraries.
(3) Science education centers and science museums.
(4) Sports centers.
(5) Children’s and youth recreation centers.
(6) Zoos.
(7) Other institutions with social education functions.
2. Cultural institutions:
(1) Cultural museums or exhibition halls.
(2) Cultural centers, art centers, and performance venues.
(3) Living arts centers.
(4) Other organizations with cultural functions.
3. Schools, government agencies, community colleges, and non-profit institutions and organizations other than those listed in the previous two paragraphs that provide diversified learning for the people.
Article 5
The scope of lifelong learning is as follows:
1. Formal education: A learning system with a hierarchical structure from compulsory education to higher education.
2. Non-formal education: Learning activities designed and organized for specific purposes or targets outside of the formal education learning system.
3. Informal education: Unorganized learning activities in daily life or environment.
Article 6
The competent authorities at all levels shall make overall planning for lifelong learning policies, programs and activities.
Competent authorities at all levels shall, in accordance with the preceding provision, coordinate, integrate and supervise the lifelong learning institutions under their jurisdiction or belonging to them, and may combine individuals, schools, institutions,
agencies and groups to organize lifelong learning activities.
Where the matters stipulated in this Act involve the respective authorities in charge of the relevant industries, the competent authorities at all levels shall coordinate the respective authorities in charge of the relevant industries to cooperate in the implementation
of such matters.
Article 7
The competent authorities at all levels shall convene regular meetings on the promotion of lifelong learning to deal with the following matters:
1. Review of lifelong learning policy directions.
2. Review major lifelong learning programs.
3. Other related consultations.
The competent authorities at all levels shall invite scholars, experts, representatives of lifelong learning institutions, representatives of government agencies, and representatives of the targets specified in Article 20, paragraph 1, to attend the aforementioned
meetings.
Article 8
Public social and educational institutions and cultural institutions are established by the central government, the governments of the special municipality, county (city) governments, township (township, city) offices, and mountainous indigenous district offices
of special municipalities, in compliance with the respective laws and regulations governing the organization of such institutions.
Private social educational institutions and cultural institutions shall be established by individuals, legal persons or organizations applying to the competent authorities of the special municipalities, counties (cities); the methods of establishment, change,
closure, supervision, rewards and other related matters shall be prescribed by the competent authority of the central government and the competent authority of the central government in charge of culture, respectively.
If the social education institutions and cultural institutions are libraries or museums, their establishment shall be handled in accordance with the Library Act, the Museum Act and their relevant regulations.
Article 9
After the amendments to this Act come into effect, cultural institutions and their personnel shall be governed by the provisions of other laws and regulations regarding social education institutions and their personnel, unless otherwise provided for in the
laws and regulations.
Article 10
To promote lifelong learning, the competent authorities of special municipalities and counties (cities) may organize community colleges; the establishment and development of such colleges shall be governed by separate laws.
Article 11
Schools at all levels should cultivate students’ concepts, attitudes, abilities, and methods of lifelong learning in their learning activities and establish their habits of lifelong learning.
Schools at all levels are allowed to organize recurrent education and provide learning opportunities to meet the lifelong learning needs of the people.
Recurrent education refers to the type of education in which an individual, after graduating or failing to graduate from school, continues his/her studies in school on a full-time or part-time basis, so that education, work and leisure life can be carried out
in an alternating manner.
Article 12
Lifelong Learning Institutions may establish a record of learning achievement for the learning process and outcomes of individuals participating in non-formal education to serve as a reference for the certification of learning achievement and to provide a conduit
for linkage with formal education at all levels of schooling.
Article 13
To encourage citizens to participate in lifelong learning, the central competent authority shall establish a system for the certification of learning achievements for non-formal education, which shall be used as a reference for the recognition of enrollment,
credit exemption or job promotion assessment.
The aforesaid learning achievement certification system shall include the recognition of courses, the issuance of credit certificates, the conditions for admission, credit exemption, and other related matters; and the methods thereof shall be prescribed by
the central competent authority.
Article 14
The competent authorities at all levels shall formulate and budget for plans to promote elderly learning and encourage lifelong learning institutions to organize elderly learning activities.
The competent authorities at each level may grant subsidies to lifelong learning institutions for the aforementioned elderly learning activities; the targets, conditions, modes, examination criteria, visits and counseling, and other requirements to be complied
with shall be prescribed by the competent authorities at each level.
If the competent authorities of special municipalities and counties (cities) have excellent performance in organizing elderly learning activities and have developmental characteristics, the central competent authority may grant awards at its discretion; the
target recipients of the awards, conditions, modes, examination criteria, visits and counseling, and other matters to be followed shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.
Article 15
Lifelong learning organizations shall give priority to recruiting lifelong learning professionals to promote lifelong learning activities.
The central authorities in charge of the relevant industries may, depending on the needs of the purpose of the industries, formulate regulations concerning the methods of certification, professional contents, issuance or revocation of professional certificates,
training, further education, and other associated matters for various types of lifelong learning professionals.
Regarding the various types of lifelong learning professionals, the central authorities in charge of the relevant industries may set up human resource databases of professional personnel and provide them to the lifelong learning organizations for reference
in the selection and recruitment of personnel.
Article 16
Government of all levels and lifelong learning organizations can plan lifelong learning activities by combining the Internet, mobile communication carriers, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and books, as necessary, to expand people’s opportunities
to participate in informal education.
Article 17
To promote and popularize the lifelong learning broadcasting channels, the government may, at its discretion, provide funding subsidies or award recognition to media outlets that actively participate in the broadcasting and production of lifelong learning programs
or content, or that provide a certain number of hours or scheduled time slots for the broadcasting of lifelong learning programs at no cost or at a low cost; the regulations governing such subsidies or awards shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.
Article 18
Governments of all levels shall actively promote the establishment of study systems for their employees in government agencies(organizations), schools, public institutions, and legally established, incorporated, or registered private institutions and groups,
and shall provide incentives to those that do so.
The study systems referred to in the preceding paragraph may take the form of study leave on full pay, subsidies for expenses, or official leave from work.
The competent authorities at all levels shall stipulate the targets, eligibility, procedures, methods and other related matters of the award referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 19
Governments of all levels shall make generous budgetary provisions to promote lifelong learning activities.
To promote balanced regional development of lifelong learning, the central competent authority shall give priority to the outlying islands, remote areas, indigenous ethnic groups, and special regions in the provision of funding subsidies.
Article 20
The competent authorities of all levels shall develop and popularize lifelong learning opportunities, and take into account the special characteristics of different ethnic groups, cultures, economic circumstances, and physical and mental conditions of the target
groups, design courses to meet their needs, and provide accessible services; the regulations on courses, teaching materials, teachers’ qualifications, subsidies, and other related matters shall be prescribed by the competent authorities at all levels.
The central competent authority may, at its discretion, subsidize the tuition fees paid by the group of students participating in the approved courses as stipulated in the provisions of Paragraph 2, Article 13; the central competent authority shall prescribe
the method of subsidizing the target group, the method of subsidy, the rate, the procedure, and other related matters.
Article 21
The relevant industries, supervise and visit lifelong learning institutions, and establish a performance evaluation system; lifelong learning institutions or individuals with outstanding performance in promoting lifelong learning activities may be rewarded.
Article 22
This Act shall come into force on the date of promulgation.
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