National Development Initiatives Institute Sailing Education Institute

Case:

Key Words:

English Competency Test, GET, General English Proficiency Test

Reference:

Fair Trade Commission Disposition Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 097158 dated December 12, 2008, Ratification by the 893rd Commissioners' Meeting of December 17, 2008

Industry:

Educational Support Services (8580)

Relevant Laws:

Article 21(3) which applies mutatis mutandis to Article 21(1) of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. The case was initiated from an article in the newspaper saying that a private institution published a half-page advertisement in the United Daily News on March 10, 2008. The advertisement made the following claims: "the GET conforms to the Common European Framework (CEF), and its compliance is recognized by the Ministry of Education"; "The credibility of the GET is equivalent to that of the General English Proficiency Test, and such equivalence is recognized by the Ministry of Education"; and "the academic and research institute, 'National Development Initiatives Institute,' was established under the examination and approval of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education." The findings of FTC after investigation showed that the full name of the GET is the "Global English Test," which was hosted by the National Development Initiatives Institute (hereinafter to referred as "NDI"). In the same way, the NDI's website claimed that "it is an academic and research institute of higher education which was established under the examination and approval of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education"; the website also declared that "'the GET is an indicator test recognized by the Ministry of Education, and it conforms to types of English tests for civil servants." However, the Ministry of Education announced a press release and issued a letter to the Commission indicating in the letter that,
   "We have never endorse any English test institute, and have never recognized any English test; each authority and school is to recognize grades of any English tests on their own accord. However, the content, 'The effects of the GET are equivalent to those of the General English Proficiency Test, and such equivalence is recognized by the Ministry of Education --' indicated in the advertisement is suspected of misleading the general public."
   Because the content of such an advertisement was untrue and misled people into believing that the establishment of the NDI had something to do with the government, the Commission concerned the institute's violation of Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law and initiated and ex officio investigation.
2. Based on the findings of the investigation, the advertisement in the newspaper concerned in this case was financed, produced, and published by the Sailing Education Institute, while the website concerned in the case was set up by the NDI, and it was carried in the name of the "National Development Initiatives Institute." Therefore, the Sailing Education Institute and the NDI were the advertisers of the advertisements in this case. Secondly, on the basis of the indication made by the Ministry of Education, each testing institute might not publicly declared that the effects of its test could be equivalent to those of other enterprises, and each English competency test used and being taken for reference. As for Subparagraph 4, Paragraph 2 of Point 4 of the Points of Internationalized Sponsorship of Colleges and Universities, it was based on the certificates in English language which were listed in the comparison table published on the website of the Central Personnel Administration (the Administration had repealed the table). In order to make schools continue to implement policies of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry still adopts each certificate in English language, which was originally listed, for the convenience of each school's application, compliance, and reference. However, the Ministry does not recognize these certificates. Therefore, an English testing institute may not declare without authorization that it has received the certification from the Ministry of Education, and may not use such a declaration for advertisement and marketing, so as to avoid misleading authorities and schools. The NDI argued that it advertised and declared the wording, "The effects of the GET are equivalent to those of the General English Proficiency Test, and such equivalence is recognized by the Ministry of Education," because the 'Consulting Committee of Adoption and Recognition of Appraisal Certificates of Civilian Professional Abilities" of the Department of Technology and Vocational Education, Ministry of Education included "the GET" and "the General English Proficiency Test" in the recommendation list. However, the findings of the investigation showed that the list was merely for allocating and evaluating funds for the overall development of colleges and universities with respect to sponsorship and subsidization in relation to technological and vocational education; increasing or redeploying departments, sections, and classes; and changing names or systems. Including these two tests into the recommendation list did not mean that "is recognized by the Ministry of Education," and the Ministry of Education did not recognize that the credibility of the GET and those of the General English Proficiency Test were the same. On the basis of what have been mentioned above, the phrases "the GET is an indicator test recognized by the Ministry of Education" declared by the NDI on its website, and "is recognized by the Ministry of Education" as well as "The effects of the GET are equivalent to those of the General English Proficiency Test, and such equivalence is recognized by the Ministry of Education," which were declared in the advertisement of the newspaper by the Sailing Education Institute, misled people into believing that the quality of the GET had been recognized by the competent educational authority, the Ministry of Education, and they were found to be false, untrue, and misleading representations. The two institutes violated Article 21(3) that applies mutatis mutandis to Article 21(1) of the Fair Trade Law.
3. Secondly, the findings of FTC after investigation demonstrated that the NDI is indeed an academic and research institute that was established under the examination and approval of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, and the finding was supported by the Ministry of Education Letter, Tai (83) Kao No. 003702, dated January 21, 1994. Therefore, the wording, "it is an academic and research institute of higher education which was established after the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education examined and approved such establishment"; and "the academic and research institute, 'National Development Initiatives Institute,' was established under the examination and approval of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education," which were declared on the website and in the advertisement of the newspaper by the NDI and the Sailing Education Institute were grounded.
4. In the same way, on the basis of the "Principles Governing the Ministry of Education's Promotion of English Competency Tests" provided by the Ministry of Education Order Tai-She-(1)-Tzu No. 0940075287C dated June 28, 2005, each authority and school must refer to the Common European Framework of Reference for Language learning, teaching and assessment (hereinafter referred as "CEF") while promoting an English competency test. Furthermore, in terms of the Central Personnel Administration's indication in Letter Chu-Li-Tzu No. 0950061896 dated April 24, 2006, a test which is formulated by each testing institute on its own accord, and is corresponding to the comparison standard of the CEF that may be included into types of English tests for civil servants, and each competent authority is to, on its own accord, decide on whether it will adopt the test or not. The GET of the NDI was corresponding to the reference table of the CEF, and therefore, the wording, "the GET conforms to the Common European Framework" and "it conforms to types of English tests for civil servants" which were declared on the website and in the advertisement of the newspaper by the NDI and the Sailing Education Institute were also grounded.
5. In accordance with the fore part of Article 41 of the Fair Trade Law, the NDI and the Sailing Education Institute were ordered to cease the above-mentioned unlawful act immediately, and were imposed with an administrative fine of NT$ 100,000 and NT$ 50,000 respectively.

Appendix:
Sailing Education Institute's Uniform Invoice Number: 70482634
Summarized by Lai, Shu-Ching; Supervised by Lu, Li-Na