Minister of Education Huang Jung-tsun (黃榮村) yesterday said he looked forward to hiring more foreign English teachers for primary schools in remote areas, after restrictions on their recruitment and supervision are lifted.
"It might enable us to acquire our own Albert Schweitzer, who will devote himself to elevating the English ability of Taiwanese children in remote mountainous areas," said the minister.
Schweitzer, a French doctor who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, devoted spent 50 years practicing medicine in Africa.
"If we work out a plan to encourage foreign English teachers to work in rural or mountainous areas where schools often lack sufficient resources, it would help to minimize the gap between urban and rural regions in English-language education," the minister added.
Huang said the Ministry of Education (MOE) is negotiating with the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to win approval of new rules to allow "qualified, foreign English teachers" to teach English in local primary and secondary schools.
Huang failed to define what is meant by, "qualified foreign English teacher."
Under the current Employment Service Act, public primary and secondary schools are not allowed to hire foreigners to teach English-language classes
They are permitted, however, in public or registered private colleges, foreign schools, private elementary schools and secondary schools, or in bilingual courses offered by experimental high schools.
With the government planning to make English Taiwan's second official language within five years, however, elementary school students have been required since last year to study English starting in the fifth grade.
Liu Yi-chuan (
Meanwhile, CLA vice chairman, Kuo Chi-jen (
Kuo also said that although the draft must pass through the legislature, the restrictions would almost certainly be lifted within a year.
Kuo said that details, such as the qualifications required of the new teachers, have yet to be decided.
"Previously, the government banned foreigners from teaching in public schools to protect Taiwanese English teachers. However, now that Taiwan has joined the WTO and we face a more globalized world, it is time for us to welcome more foreign English-language instructors," he said.
* With Taiwan's entry into the WTO and in the face of economic globalization, rules originally intended to shield Taiwanese English teachers from their foreign counterparts may soon be waived.
* The Ministry of Education plans to hire the new instructers to teach primary and secondary public school students in mostly remote areas.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS