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In recent years, many countries have undergone significant demographic changes, with a general decline in fertility rates, posing serious challenges for educational institutions. Higher education institutions in particular have seen a decline in student numbers due to the highly competitive admissions environment. In China, there is fierce competition for high-scoring candidates during the college entrance examination, and as the fertility rate continues to decline, the number of students is also decreasing, and colleges and universities will have to take measures such as lowering the cut-off score in order to complete the enrollment plan, which may lead to the crisis of some colleges and universities facing the danger of closure.
Countries such as Japan and South Korea are facing similar problems. According to the data, 12 universities in Japan have announced that they will stop recruiting students, and South Korea expects more than 190 universities to be at risk of closure in the next 20 years. Taiwan's colleges and universities are no exception, many universities have announced their closures, and more colleges and universities will stop recruiting students one after another.
The main reason for the wave of closures of these universities is the decline in the number of students. With the decline in the fertility rate and the gradual decrease in the number of new students, private universities are even facing the dilemma of not being able to gain a foothold. For teachers, this is a huge disaster. Many teachers are over the age of 35, and the difficulty of re-employment can be imagined. In Taiwan, in particular, more than 6,000 teachers are expected to lose their jobs in the coming years. This is undoubtedly a huge blow to them.
The continued decline in fertility is not just a problem for the education sector, it is also a reflection of the plight of society as a whole. Japan, South Korea and other countries have already entered a fertility crisis, and the problem of population aging is serious. The fertility rate has fallen below the 10 million mark for two consecutive years, and there will even be negative population growth in 2023, indicating that China has entered a moderately aging society.
These problems have brought many negative effects to society, such as labor shortage, waste of educational resources, and increased difficulty in employment. In addition, there are more serious problems, such as the closure of kindergartens and the surplus of educational resources in primary, junior and senior high schools. The accumulation of these problems could lead to a wave of closures of higher education institutions in the future, and the problem of teacher unemployment will become a huge challenge.
In order to effectively increase the willingness to have children, it is necessary to start with education. First of all, it is necessary to thoroughly improve the employment environment, break the situation of unemployment after graduation, and let parents have more time and energy to have a second or third child. In addition, it is necessary to increase investment in education, reduce the cost of education, improve the remuneration of teachers, and encourage them to devote themselves to education. The most important thing is to adjust the education system, implement teaching according to their aptitude, and provide different students with an educational path suitable for them, so as to avoid excessive pressure on students and also improve their willingness to have children.
In response to the problem of teacher unemployment caused by the wave of university closures, some people have proposed to reduce the number of students in a class from 30 to 15 by changing the class size to small classes, so as to avoid the problem of teacher unemployment. This, of course, requires the state to invest sufficient funds in education to keep the teaching staff working. In addition, we should actively explore multiple employment paths, such as areas with abundant educational resources, which can provide more education and training institutions and education service industries, and provide more employment opportunities for teachers.
In short, in the face of declining fertility, educational institutions must pay close attention and adopt timely response strategies. At the same time, we should increase investment in education, improve the employment environment, improve the treatment of teachers, and realize teaching according to their aptitude, so as to increase the willingness to have children. Only in this way can the sustainable development of education be ensured and at the same time the problem of unemployment of teachers can be solved.
Declining fertility rates pose serious challenges to educational institutions, and a wave of university closures has emerged and has had a huge impact on teacher employment. In order to effectively increase the willingness to have children, we need to start with education, improve the employment environment, improve the salary of teachers, and adjust the education system. At the same time, educational institutions and institutions should take active measures to face the challenges and ensure the sustainable development of education. Only in this way can we effectively increase the willingness to have children and make due contributions to the development of the country and society.
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