TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A nationwide debate has erupted across Taiwan as student and parent advocacy groups demand an end to the public display of university entrance exam results following the February 25 release of General Scholastic Ability Test (GSAT, 大學學科能力測驗) scores. The controversy reached a flashpoint at Kaohsiung Municipal Girls' Senior High School (KGHS, 高雄女中), which faced intense scrutiny after none of its students achieved perfect scores.
This situation has forced Taiwanese society to confront uncomfortable questions about educational values: Should test scores determine a school's reputation? Has the 108 Curriculum Guidelines (108課綱) truly delivered on its promise of aptitude-based education? In coordinated efforts to challenge this tradition, EdYouth (台灣一滴優教育協會) and the Taiwan Parent Education Association (TPEA, 台灣家長教育聯盟) organized press conferences calling for immediate reform.
EdYouth chair Tsai Chi-yeh (蔡其曄) argued that the public display of test scores creates an unhealthy fixation on numerical competition that overshadows students' individual interests and potential. TPEA representatives reinforced this position, highlighting the wave of societal anxiety that accompanies each exam result announcement.
Responding to mounting pressure, KGHS principal Cheng Wen-yi (鄭文儀) announced a significant policy shift: the school will no longer proactively disclose GSAT scores. Cheng emphasized that students pursue diverse application paths based on their unique aspirations, making comparative rankings both unnecessary and potentially harmful. The Ministry of Education (MOE, 教育部) has aligned with this perspective, urging schools to abandon rigid success metrics and prioritize student privacy.
Taiwan's educational landscape has evolved considerably since abolishing the Joint College Entrance Examination (JCEE, 大學聯考) in 2001. The system now embraces multiple admission channels, with application-based entry—which evaluates comprehensive academic records and extracurricular achievements—emerging as the dominant pathway to higher education.
This shift is evident at National Taiwan University, Taiwan's premier academic institution, where application-based admissions represented 50% of undergraduate enrollment in 2024, significantly outpacing the 35% admitted through distribution-based admissions that rely exclusively on exam scores.
Despite these progressive reforms, the deeply entrenched practice of publicizing test scores for marketing purposes persists across Taiwan's educational institutions, signaling that meaningful change requires more than policy adjustments—it demands a fundamental reconsideration of educational values.
