Under the domestic trend of birthrate decline, the gap in demand for industrial talents is expanding. STUST was approved by the Ministry of Education to set up International Specialist Training Department this year, thanks to its great performances in school operation. In addition to cultivating students' professional abilities, STUST has also planned Chinese language courses to strengthen students' Chinese language proficiency, so that students can stay in Taiwan to work after graduation and become talents for Taiwan enterprises.

【President Deng-mao Lu of STUST (4th from left), Vice President De-guang Chou of STUST (2nd from right), Principal Raniza Romero (1st from right) of the Affiliated High School to CIT-U of the Philippines, and Secretary Alona Solis (1st from left) of the Cebu Polytechnic University in the Philippines took a group photo with four students from the Chinese Preparatory Program who will go to study at the International Specialist Training Department of STUST.】

STUST has been committed to international exchanges for many years and has achieved fruitful results. It has sister schools in 31 countries in Europe, America, Oceania and Asia, with international students and alumni scattered over five continents. Following the government's New Southbound Policy, STUST plans to recruit international students for specialist training from such countries as the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and India. In cooperation with local sister schools and alumni in those countries, STUST is recruiting outstanding international students to study. A few days ago, President Deng-mao Lu, Vice President De-guang Chou, and his accompanying staff went to Cebu and Davao in the Philippines for international exchanges and admissions trips, visiting CIT-U, USJR, and USeP, making great fruitful results.

【President Deng-mao Lu (5th from the left in the front row), Vice President De-guang Chou (4th from the right in the front row), Prof. Jin-bo Shih (4th from the left in the front row), and participating staff and students in the 2022 Transnational Issue-Oriented Thematic Course (i-PBL).】

STUST has cooperated closely with sister schools in the Philippines since 2017. The cooperation projects include transnational problem-oriented topic-based learning (i-PBL), student exchanges, cooperative research, and teacher training. Teachers and students have published papers in international conferences and international journals, repeatedly winning awards in international competitions. In this visit, STUST shared the successful model of Taiwan's technical and vocational education development with sister schools in the Philippines, signing of a number of specific cooperation agreements with three universities in the Philippines. At the same time, it will also promote cooperative research projects with various schools, publish academic papers, and participate in international competitions. In addition, STUST will offer scholarships to lecturers from sister schools, encouraging them to study at STUST for master and PhD degrees, helping its sister schools to improve the quality and quantity of their teachers. Sister schools have also promised to encourage their high school students to study in the International Specialist Training Department of STUST.

【A group photo of the signing of the student exchange memorandum between STUST and CIT-U in the Philippines】

Deng-mao Lu, President of STUST, said that due to the impact of birthrate decline in Taiwan, the shortage of domestic industrial talents has expanded. STUST has been approved by the Ministry of Education to set up the International Specialist Training Department in order to meet the needs of domestic industry, with a start-up fee of NT$ 1 million. At the same time, it has also been approved to recruit students from overseas, Hong Kong and Macau in key industrial fields, actively introducing international talented students to meet the needs of the industry. STUST has recruited more than 20 international students in a very short period of time this semester. In order to retain the students, STUST provides them with not only high-quality software programs and hardware facilities, but also a Chinese language center to help international students quickly become integrated into Taiwanese society through language communication, thereby forming a source of long-term manpower for the industries of our country. It is hoped that through education, Taiwan will become an important partner of the international community.

【Dr. Lourdes Generalao (2nd from left), President of Southeastern University of the Philippines (USeP), and Dr. Deng-mao Lu (2nd from right), President of STUST, signed a memorandum of cooperation between the two universities.】

【President Deng-mao Lu of STUST (4th from right) and his entourage, District 11 Director Dr. Maricar Casquejo Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the faculty and staff of the University of Southeast Philippines (USeP) in CHED District 11】