Officials Decry Diploma 'Overthinking' Problem 林智堅論文爭議 有校長認文憑過度迷思

The Ministry of Education held a joint swearing-in ceremony for the incoming presidents of national universities on Aug. 1. Asked about Taoyuan City mayor candidate Lin Chih-chien's ongoing thesis plagiarism case, one president said it highlights Taiwan's diploma overthinking problem.

Four new national university presidents are sworn in addition to two who are retaining their posts. Education Minister Pan Wen-chung calls on them to work as hard as they can.

Pan Wen-chung, Education Minister: “I have hopes for innovation and the integration of digital technology into education so that we can cultivate future stars and society can live up to its higher education responsibilities.”

Kuo Bor-chen, who stepped down as the head of the ministry's Department of Information and Technology Education to take over the post of president at the National Taichung University of Education, is promoting internet access in every classroom and a tablet for every student to close the educational resource gap between urban and rural areas.

Kuo Bor-chen, President, National Taichung University of Education: “The next department head and I will work together to realize this policy. We expect the process to be seamless.”

Meanwhile, thesis plagiarism continues to be a hot-button topic in education. A KMT candidate for Taipei City Council was recently accused of plagiarizing the thesis of a National Chengchi University professor by translating his articles from English to Mandarin Chinese.

Li Tsai-yen, Incoming NCCU President: “Everyone in academia should understand the importance of academic ethics. If you don't, academic work won't have an easy path.”

Kuo Ming-cheng, Outgoing NCCU President: “You need to get to the bottom of it, and that includes a full understanding of relevant laws, regulations and standards of value.”

School officials say politics should be kept separate from higher education and how closely they are intertwined in Taiwan highlights Taiwan's diploma overthinking problem.

從教育部長潘文忠手中接下聘書，4位國立大學校長以及因為辦學優異續任的2位國立大學校長，接下高等教育作育英才的任務，部長也期許他們全力以赴。

教育部長潘文忠表示：「特別能夠透過實踐教學創新，善用數位科技以及培育跨領域的未來人才，善盡社會的大學責任。」

像是剛卸任的教育部資訊及科技教育司長郭伯臣，接下台中教育大學校長職務，就努力推動「班班有網路、生生用平板」的政策，透過科技讓偏鄉也能獲得公平的教育。

郭伯臣表示：「未來的司長跟我，我們也會一起努力，來讓這個政策更實際落實到我們的中小學的情境，所以這個部分的話應該是無縫接軌。」

由於民進黨桃園市長參選人林智堅的論文案引發各界討論，甚至有國民黨籍人士也被指控以英翻中方式，疑似抄襲政大學者的文章。

政大新任校長李蔡彥表示：「學術人都應該本於初心，重視學術倫理的重要，如果失去這個初心，我想很多的學術工作，就沒辦法做的好。」

政大卸任校長郭明政表示：「把事實弄清楚，相關的法規、相關的規則、相關的一個價值的標準也要弄清楚。」

校長們認為，覺得政治牽扯上學術，對高等教育的發展，不是好事，這多少凸顯出台灣對文憑的過度迷思，也期許全案能早日查明。