Taiwan's commercial high schools are 3-year institutions that students enter after successfully passing a rigorous vocational, technical, or commercial school admission examination. Although commercial high schools date from the early days of Japanese occupation in 1895, the modern-day Chinese commercial high school did not come into being until 1945. Unlike technical/vocational schools, commercial high schools focus on areas of study that are both academic and relevant to the world of office work, language, computers, international business, and other commercially important areas. Taiwan currently has 106 commercial high schools serving 197,000 students. Commercial high schools may be set up and run by the government or private investors under the direction of a board of trustees and the administration of a principal with an average of 20 years in public education. Eighty-five percent of graduates of commercial high schools find immediate employment. As is the case in other components of Taiwan's educational system, prolongation of the childhood experience is on the agenda of Taiwan's educational authorities. Although commercial high schools have always played an important role in Taiwan's economic development, the issue of how they can make an even greater contribution to the nation's economic prosperity has become a major concern. (Contains 40 references.) (MN)