Falling Birthrate Affects College Entrance Exam|少子化衝擊 大考中心學測財務拉警報

The declining birthrate is having a major impact on schools and education activities. The College Entrance Examination Center has been losing money as the number of test takers is declining. It fears the number will fall to 80,000 in ten years. That would put a financial strain on the center and it might also lead to the closing of schools.


This year, the Chinese essay portion of the General Scholastic Ability Test was conducted on a stand-alone basis for the first time. Meanwhile, the format for the Chinese literature exam of the Advanced Subjects Test was multiple choice. The College Entrance Examination Center says testing costs increased this year. Its calculations showed the loss from holding one examination session totaled NT$14 million. It has been in a deficit for three consecutive years. The number of students who registered for the GSAT this year was 136,000 as children born during the penultimate Year of the Dragon are now college-age. This number was higher than the 128,000 during the previous year, allowing it to barely break even.
If the mathematics exam is divided into A and B, the testing period may be prolonged from two days to three. Some periods may have to be prolonged. There are also major problems on top of these financial difficulties. We wish to warn society that the GSAT is facing severe problems right now.

The CEEC says the influence of the declining birthrate means the number of students sitting for the GSAT will fall with each passing year. It estimates the number of test takers to be only 100,000 in 2022, or in just four years. In 10 years, in 2028, the number will plummet to 80,000. If the center is not allowed to increase the registration fee, it will need government funding. The Taiwan Higher Education Union says increasing the registration fee is not feasible.

Many countries require college entrance exams, and their governments pay for the costs of the exams. This way, students don't have to worry about this cost. Meanwhile, there may be unfairness from economic inequality, and I believe we need to move in the direction of lowering the cost of taking college entrance exams and having the government support the expenditures of the College Entrance Examination Center.

The Ministry of Education says it already offers subsidies for items such as the research and development of test questions or holding English listening tests in air-conditioned rooms. In the future, it will examine the subsidies given to the CEEC without increasing the burden on test takers.