Chapter I. General Provisions

Article 1  This Act has been formulated in order to put in place a technical and vocational education (hereinafter referred to as “TVE”) system for training skilled people, to foster people’s proper understanding of appreciation of vocations and professions, to put in place TVE teaching of useful practical skills, and to train skilled people for all trades and industries.

Article 2  In this Act, the “competent authority” refers to the Ministry of Education at the central government level; to the municipal government at municipality level; and to the county (city) government at the county (city) level.

        When any matter stipulated in this Act involves an area over which any other competent authority exercises administrative oversight, each competent authority shall work in coordination with any other authority involved to achieve its aims.

Article 3  The terms used in this Act are defined as follows:

1.  Career information education: refers to education to provide students with knowledge and understanding, exploration, and personal experience of various vocations and occupations.

2. Basic vocational education: refers to education that provides students with the professional knowledge, skills, and professional ethics and self-restraint required to join the workforce, and establishing a sense of pride in their technical or vocational profession.

3. Vocational continuing education: refers to education that provides currently working people or those transferring to another position or field with the specialized skills and/or vocational training required by the workplace.

4. Technical and vocational educational institutions: refers to skills-based senior high schools; general senior high schools with affiliated vocational program divisions; comprehensive senior high schools that provide vocational programs; junior colleges; institutes of technology; and universities of science and technology.             

5. Technical and vocational colleges and universities: refers to junior colleges; institutes of technology; and universities of science and technology.

6. Vocational training institutes: refers to vocational training institutes registered or approved to be established in accordance with the Vocational Training Act.

 
 Chapter II    Planning & Management of Technical and    Vocational Education

Article 4  In order to train skilled people to meet the needs of national economic and industrial development, and formulate macro TVE policies and programs, the Executive Yuan shall regularly invite the ministers of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the National Development Council, and other related ministries and government bodies to convene a Technical and Vocational Education Review Committee meeting. The Executive Yuan shall prescribe the regulations governing the appointment of members of the committee, and its organization and operation.

        The programs referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be comprehensively reviewed and the review findings be made public at least once every two years.

Article 5  The central competent authority shall conduct surveys to gather TVE-related data and generate statistics, or appoint or commission a university or college, corporation, agency (organization), or group to do so.

        The central competent authority for each industry area shall compile information about the skilled people needed by the industries under its jurisdiction and submit survey findings and forecasts of the skilled personnel demands of those industries to the central competent authority.

        The central competent authority shall regularly make public the TVE statistical data and information about all industries, vocational development, and personnel demands referred to in Paragraph 1.

Article 6  Each competent authority at municipality level and county (city) level shall submit a TVE report to the central competent authority every three years, and the central competent authority will use these reports when formulating TVE development reports.

Article 7  The competent authority shall consider regional industry needs and individuals’ employment needs and plan the provision of TVE aligned with social, economic, and technical development in the schools, colleges, and universities within its jurisdiction.

        When a competent authority at municipality level or county (city) level achieves substantial results organizing the provision of TVE, the central competent authority may allocate a grant of funds to it as an incentive reward. The regulations governing the eligibility criteria, form, and any other compliance requirements associated with such incentives shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.

Article 8  The competent authority shall invite suitable government bodies, scholars & experts, leading members of society, industry sector representatives, representatives of educational institutions, representatives of teachers' organizations, and representatives of industry (professional) associations and/or unions to form a Technical and Vocational Education Advisory Committee to advise on matters related to TVE.

        People of any one gender must comprise at least one-third of the members of the Technical and Vocational Education Advisory Committee referred to in the preceding paragraph.

 Chapter III   Provision of Technical & Vocational Education

 Section 1 Career Information Education

Article 9  Elementary schools, junior high schools and senior secondary schools shall provide vocational information and workplace visit courses and career guidance courses, or incorporate vocational information, workplace visits, and career guidance into other courses to provide students with opportunities to learn about different vocational possibilities and establish a proper system of values pertaining to vocations and employment.

          The curriculum guidelines of elementary schools and junior high schools shall incorporate vocational knowledge and exploration content; senior secondary schools and junior high schools shall arrange visits to related businesses and industries for students.

Article 10 In order to provide career information education, junior high schools may work with technical and vocational educational institutions or with vocational training institutes to provide practical arts education. The implementation regulations shall be prescribed by the central competent authority in consultation with the central competent labor authority.

        The respective rights and obligations of the junior high schools and of the vocational training institutes shall be set out in a written agreement and details submitted by the schools to the competent authority to be put on record.

        The format and content of the written agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph, the central competent authority shall provide a standard agreement template and specify mandatory content and matters which may not be included.       

 Section 2 Basic Vocational Education

Article 11 Educational institutions at senior secondary or higher level (hereinafter referred to as “educational institutions”) which offer basic vocational education may design their vocational courses jointly with the relevant industry, set up appropriate program arrangements, and at the same time cultivate students' professional ethics and their knowledge of career development, and labor and technology laws and regulations, and regularly update their course design.

        Educational institutions may plan and design the vocational courses referred to in the preceding paragraph based on the vocational competence criteria prescribed by the central competent authority in charge of each related industry sector to provide students with the vocational competence they need to find employment.

        The vocational competence criteria prescribed by the central competent authority in charge of the various industry sectors in accordance with the Act for Industrial Innovation shall be reviewed, updated, and adjusted at least once every two years, taking into account social development and changes in the industry sector, and the updated versions shall be publicly posted on a dedicated information platform.

        Technical and vocational colleges and universities shall review their course curriculums each year based on the vocational competence criteria prescribed by the central competent authority of each related industry sector.

Article 12 Educational institutions may offer internship programs in accordance with the nature of their divisions, departments, institutes, and academic programs.

        When the internship programs referred to in the preceding paragraph involve off-campus internships, unless subject to the provisions of other laws, the educational institutions shall prescribe the regulations governing the implementation mode, internship venues, teachers’ qualifications, calculation of course credits, guidance and counseling, and other associated matters.

        When educational institutions providing off-campus internship programs require government institutions (agencies) or public enterprises or organizations to set internship quotas, the quotas shall be determined in the following ways:

1.     Government institutions (agencies): The educational institution shall submit a project report with the off-campus internship program plan documents attached to the competent authority in charge of the educational institution for review and approval in consultation with the particular government institution (agency).

2. Public enterprises and organizations: The competent authority in charge of the educational institution may consult with the competent authority in charge of the public enterprise or organization to contact the enterprises and organizations under its jurisdiction to provide details of the quotas, intended recipients, and form of the internships, and the competent authority in charge of the educational institution shall collate the off-campus internship program plans and information about recruitment of student trainees in accordance with the results of the consultations, and make all this public, and the allocation of internship places will then be decided through a selection or screening process.

Article 13 The competent authority shall conduct appraisals and assessment of the internships provided by educational institutions. The regulations governing what assessments must include and any other associated compliance requirements shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.

        The competent authority may give incentive rewards to educational institutions, collaborating organizations, and their related personnel involved in providing internship programs that achieve outstanding results.

When collaborating organizations that work with educational institutions to provide off-campus internships offer an internship quota to an educational institution for a long period, and the number of students who did an internship with them are after their graduation subsequently formally employed as staff members of that collaborating organization after going through a selection procedure reaches a specific proportion set by the central competent authority, the competent authority shall report this to the central competent authority through which the central competent authority in charge of the associated industry shall be asked to confer an incentive reward.

Article 14 Educational institutions may appoint experts from the industry sector to collaborate with to provide teaching.

        The regulations governing the assessment and endorsement of the suitability, rights and obligations, and management of the experts from the industry sector referred to in the preceding paragraph, the courses offered by educational institutions, and any other associated compliance requirements shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.

        The competent authority shall give incentive rewards to enterprises in which a large number of their employees participate in teaching for educational institutions’ internship programs.

Article 15 Educational institutions shall encourage their teachers and students to take part in skills competitions and to obtain professional certificates pertinent to the area of their studies or employment, to increase students’ ability to find employment. The competent authority may give incentive rewards to educational institutions that have excellent results doing this.

        The central competent authority in charge of each industry sector shall organize a list of details of all the professional certificates pertinent to the industries under their jurisdiction and submit these details to the central competent authority to regularly make public.

        The regulations governing the endorsement of the suitability of the professional certificates referred to in the preceding two paragraphs, and the eligibility criteria, form, and any other compliance requirements pertaining to the incentive rewards referred to in Paragraph 1 shall be prescribed by the central competent authority in consultation with each associated central competent industry authority.

Article 16 Skills-based senior high schools, general senior high schools with affiliated vocational program divisions; and comprehensive senior high schools that provide vocational programs may draw up a project plan for any vocational program they want to offer to train entry level skilled workers for a specific industry and may provide the vocational training programs after the project plan has been approved by the competent authority in charge of the school.

        The vocational training programs referred to in the preceding paragraph are not subject to the restrictions on students’ eligibility, admission, delineation of school districts, curriculum, and assessment of learning stipulated in the provisions of Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 of the Senior High School Education Act.

Article 17 Junior colleges and institutions of higher education may work with the industry sector to offer vocational training programs to provide basic vocational education.

        The junior colleges and institutions of higher education shall draw up an implementation plan setting out the qualifications of the instructors, curriculum design, operation mode, calculation of course credits, the workplace internships, and guidance and counseling aspects of the vocational training programs referred to in the preceding paragraph. The plan may be implemented after being approved by the competent authority in charge of the junior college or institution of higher education.

Article 18 Technical and vocational colleges and universities shall enhance vocational competence-oriented programs and work with skills-based senior high schools; general senior high schools with affiliated vocational program divisions; and comprehensive senior high schools that provide vocational programs, to jointly set up curriculum linkage mechanisms to facilitate cultivating students’ vocational competence.

Article 19 Technical and vocational colleges and universities may give preferential enrollment to students who have specific practical work experience and add regulations governing the assessment and recognition of the practical work experience and the preferential treatment to the rules and regulations pertinent to student recruitment and admission, and these additional regulations may be implemented after being reviewed and approved by the student recruitment committee and endorsed by the central competent authority.

Section 3     Vocational Continuing Education

Article 20 Vocational continuing education may be provided by educational institutions or vocational training institutes.

        The educational institutions shall provide academic degrees, graduation diplomas, credit certificates, or certification of the number of course hours completed, as appropriate to the form(s) in which they provide vocational continuing education.

        Vocational continuing education shall primarily offer courses required by people who are currently working or transferring to another position or field. The courses may be planned and designed based on the vocational competence criteria defined by the central competent authority of the related industry sector and be updated regularly.

        The regulations governing who the vocational continuing education referred to in the preceding paragraph is intended for, its course design, learning assessment, eligibility qualifications, admission, and any other associated compliance requirements shall be prescribed by the central competent authority. When necessary, in consultation with the central competent labor authority the central competent authority may exempt vocational continuing education from the restrictions on admission stipulated in Articles 35 to 40 of the Senior High School Education Act, the curriculum and assessment of learning referred to in Chapter 7 of the same Act, and from the restrictions on recruitment stipulated in Paragraph 2 of Article 31 of the Junior College Law and on recruitment stipulated in the latter part of Paragraph 1 of Article 24 of the University Act.

Article 21 Educational institutions organizing provision of vocational continuing education may arrange for students to go into workplaces to undertake education and training courses.

        The education and training courses undertaken in workplaces referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be jointly planned and designed by the educational institutions and collaborating organizations, and the educational institutions, and collaborating organizations shall sign a written occupational education and training agreement with the students.

        The written occupational education and training agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph shall specify the content of the education and training; the rights and obligations of the educational institutions, collaborating organizations, and students; assessment of learning; and graduation requirements.

The central competent authority shall provide a standard agreement template for the format and content of the written agreements referred to in the preceding paragraph and shall specify what matters they must include and what they are not permitted to include.

        When students go into workplaces to receive education and training courses in accordance with Paragraph 1, the competent authority in charge of the educational institution may, if necessary, conduct on-site inspections and the findings of such inspections may be used as reference material when reviewing the educational institution’s annual adjustment of its divisions, departments, institutes, academic programs, courses, or financial incentive rewards.

Article 22 When organizing the provision of vocational continuing education, vocational training institutes shall draw up a vocational continuing education implementation plan setting out the qualifications of the instructors, curriculum, operation mode, and calculation of course credits and may implement the plan after it has been approved by the competent authority.

        The regulations governing the approval of the curriculum, assessment and recognition of learning results, and any other compliance requirements associated with the vocational continuing education referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be prescribed by the central competent authority in consultation with the central competent labor authority.

Article 23  The competent authority may commission academic groups or professional accreditation organizations to assess and undertake inspection visits of the vocational continuing education provided by the vocational training institutes, and make the results public. The regulations governing the assessments, inspection visits, and any other associated compliance requirements shall be prescribed by the competent authority.

Chapter IV      Qualified Teachers for Technical & Vocational Education

Article 24 Pre-service education programs to qualify people to teach in elementary, junior high, and senior secondary schools shall include subjects related to vocational education and training and to career planning as compulsory credit courses.

        The pre-service education programs to qualify people to teach subjects in vocational area programs in senior secondary schools shall include a training internship of at least 18 hours to be arranged by a university providing teacher education and training. 

Article 25 Teachers of professional subjects and technical subjects at technical and vocational educational institutions shall have had at least one year of actual practical work experience in the industry sector corresponding to the subject area in which they are appointed to teach. These restrictions do not apply to people who were already appointed and working as qualified full-time teachers before this Act came into effect.

        The standards for the assessment and endorsement of the suitability of the actual practical work experience in the industry sector corresponding to the subject area in which they are appointed to teach referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.

Article 26 After every six years they have worked at a technical and vocational educational institution, qualified teachers of professional subjects or technical subjects; professional and technical staff; and professional and technical instructors shall go and undertake at least a half a year of study or research related to their professional or technical area of expertise with collaborating organizations of technical and vocational educational institutions or with an industry related to the subject area in which they teach. The regulations governing the study and research shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.

        During the time that the study or research referred to in the preceding paragraph is being undertaken, the technical and vocational educational institutions shall retain the person’s post, pay their salary, and grant their official leave; and shall also sign a written agreement with the person beforehand stipulating the start date and end date of the study or research; service obligations; the circumstances under which a breach of the provisions incurs a mandatory repayment of expenses; accounting criteria; and compulsory implementation matters.

        Where in response to teaching or industry needs, a technical and vocational educational institution actively makes recommendations for, or assigns, or permits its teachers, professional and technical staff, or professional and technical teachers to engage in study or research with collaborating organizations of the college or university or with an industry related to the subject area in which they teach, the way that this carried out is not subject to the restrictions set out in the preceding two paragraphs.

Technical and vocational educational institutions shall invite their collaborating organizations or related professional groups, or industries to jointly plan and conduct the industry related study or research referred to in Paragraph 1, and if necessary, assistance may be provided by the competent authority.

        The competent authority may give an incentive reward to technical and vocational educational institutions which strongly encourage their qualified teachers of professional subjects or technical subjects, professional and technical staff; and professional and technical instructors to regularly go into their particular industry area and engage in research or study, and achieve excellent results as a result.

Chapter V Supplementary Provisions

Article 27 The central competent authority may consult with the central competent authority for the related industry sector and reward individuals or groups that have made a positive contribution to the research and development of TVE equipment or facilities, or donated equipment or facilities for learning or experiment use, or provided internship opportunities and occupational competency training for students.

Article 28 The enforcement rules for this Act shall be prescribed by the central competent authority.

Article 29 This Act is effective from the date of promulgation.