As clearly stipulated in Article 86 of the ROC Constitution, qualification for practice in specialized professions or as technicians shall be determined and registered through examination by the Examination Yuan in accordance with law. "Professional and technical personnel" refers to persons with specialized skills or knowledge gained through modern education or training, who are engaged in occupations that closely affect public interest or the people's lives, mental or physical health, property or other rights, and are required by law to pass relevant examinations to obtain qualifying certification. Contents of the said examination system are as follows:
1.Examination levels:
The Professional and Technical Examinations include the two levels of Junior and Senior Examinations; special examinations may be held within limited timeframes to meet specific needs or vocational laws with distinctive professional requirements.
2.Examination methods:
Examinations may be administered in the form of written, oral, on-site or physical examinations, psychometric tests, authorship and invention, academic and work experience reviews, or other appropriate methods. All examinations should consist of at least two of the above forms, unless written examinations are exclusively prescribed. Current examinations are mainly held in written form, however with some examinations in the written category taking on the form of computer based tests over recent years. Also, with regard to different examination demands, examinations may be conducted though one single stage, or be held separately or in stages.
3.Eligibility requirements:
Examination eligibility mainly based on educational qualifications. Applicants for the Senior Professional and Technical Examinations must be graduates from public or accredited private junior colleges or higher institutions, or of equivalent level of overseas institutions recognized by the Ministry of Education; applicants for the Junior Professional and Technical Examinations must be graduates from public or accredited private vocational schools, high schools or above, or of equivalent level of overseas institutions. Other personnel of special experiences or with other examination qualifications must undergo and be approved by qualification reviews before participating in the Examinations. Persons otherwise bound by occupational laws and thus prohibited from performing such professional and technical occupations may not participate in the Examinations.
4.Examination subjects:
Examination subjects are divided into general and professional subjects. General subjects include Chinese and the R.O.C. Constitution. However, most examination categories do not include general subjects, and professional subjects vary depending on examination categories. Professional subjects for Senior Professional and Technical Examinations may include five, six, or seven subjects, whereas professional subjects for Junior Professional and Technical Examinations may include three or four subjects.
5.Qualification standards:
Qualification standards include the three methods of qualification by subject, qualification by total score, and qualification by ratio of total fully attending examinees; the said methods may be use individually or jointly.
6.Regulations for Examination exemptions:
Examinees with special qualifications may be exempt from examination subjects as according to examination regulations:
(1)Partial exemption from examinations or exemption from first stage of staged examinations: total examinations may include three, four, or five subjects; eligible examinees whom have acquired service years under certain identity or possess licenses in equivalent categories issued by foreign governments, may apply for partial exemption from examinations according to varying qualifications.
(2)Full exemption from examinations: persons with qualifications in equivalent categories of public service and of certain service years may apply for full exemption from examinations; applications approved by the Professional and Technical Examinations Review Committee shall be submitted by the Ministry of Examination to the Examination Yuan for certificate of qualification issuance.
7.Employment training for qualified examinees:
Of all qualified examinees in the written part of the special examination, examinees for fire safety personnel examinations and for maritime pilot examinations are currently still required to complete training or pass a trial period before receiving their qualification certificates.
8. Taking the professional and technical examination as a foreign candidate：
Foreign nationals who wish to provide professional or technical services in the R.O.C. should pass examinations as stipulated by Professional and Technical Personnel Examinations Act (this Act), and should obtain professional licenses and appropriate approvals from competent authorities unless otherwise stipulated by law. Foreign nationals who meet exam eligibility requirements stipulated by this Act may register to take professional and technical personnel examinations unless otherwise stipulated by law. Foreign nationals who possess a professional or technical license issued by a foreign government entity that has been accredited by a competent R.O.C. authority on the basis of equality and reciprocity and who should take the licensure exam in the R.O.C. to practice that specific profession under this Act may apply for an exam exemption. The exam may be conducted in written or alternative format (such as an oral exam) and may include a review of the applicant’s academic and professional qualifications. Candidates may choose to complete exams in Chinese or English.