The nation's first group of alternative-service conscripts to serve as teachers at Taiwanese schools overseas are set to depart tomorrow for their designated countries, a vice minister of education said yesterday.
"The group, consisting of five individuals, will each go to the school of their choice and serve as math or physics teachers for one-and-a-half years," said Political Vice Minister of Education Fan Shiun-liu (
The Taiwanese schools are private schools set up to teach the children of expatriate Taiwanese businessmen. The schools follow the curriculum taught in Taiwan and receive a small subsidy from Taiwan's Ministry of Education.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"The purpose of their service will be to help make up for the shortage of teachers faced by the Taiwanese schools," said Fan, who, two years ago, first proposed deploying alternative-service conscripts as teachers in the schools.
Under the Alternative Service Law, which was passed in January 2000, eligible conscripts may serve as policemen, firemen, environmental protection workers or nurses for the elderly and handicapped in lieu of military service.
The law was amended last year to add teaching in overseas Taiwanese schools to the list of professions open to such conscripts, precisely because of the teacher shortage faced by the schools.
A 22-month period of military service is mandatory for men in Taiwan, except those suffering from designated physical ailments.
"Of 195 applicants, 16 met the minimum qualification of having teacher certificates with expertise in math or physics," said Kao Thun-yun (
"Of those 16, these five individuals were selected because they were the top five in our selection process.
"We specifically wanted teachers with expertise in math and physics because these are the subject areas in which the schools have indicated they currently have the greatest need," Kao said.
There are Taiwanese schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Surabaya, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and a Thai-Chinese International School in Thailand.
There are also two private Taiwanese schools in China but they are not eligible for alternative-service conscripts, Kao said, because "the Ministry of Defense and the Chinese authorities do not permit Taiwanese individuals with the status of a soldier to carry out such work in China."
"For obvious reasons," Kao added, "these two schools neither use the complete ROC educational curriculum nor fly the ROC flag like the other six Taipei Schools."
In December, two men serving their alternative military service with an agricultural technical corps in Gambia caught malaria.
The men, part of a group of 35 sent abroad as agricultural and medical recurits, both recovered.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and