MOE to recognize degrees earned via online education

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 24, 2006. It reports that the Ministry of Education recently announced that it would recognize master's degrees obtained through online studying. It is hoped that such move will encourage people of all age groups to pursue further education. The ministry also plans to allow a fixed amount of schools to conduct online master's programs for employed students.

According to the Ministry of Education, the trial period for the whole online degree program will be three years. Only 13 classes will be opened for each academic year under the program, and only 30 employed students can be enrolled for each class. The first class is likely to be launched in Spring 2007.

According to the Ministry of Education, the online courses will include humanities, art, business management, electrical engineering and computer science. Special courses will also be provided for elementary and junior high school teachers who wish to advance their studies.

Currently, more than 60 schools in Taiwan conduct e-learning courses, with nearly 40,000 students taking these online courses. In order to encourage digital learning, the Ministry of Education recently announced that 50 percent of minimum credits required for graduation from vocational schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities could be recognized online credits.