Foreign English teachers to be hired at elementary and junior high schools are intended to back up their domestic counterparts rather than replace them, Minister of Education Huang Jong-tsun (黃榮村) said yesterday.
Huang made the remark in the legislature as lawmakers from across party lines questioned the wisdom of the proposed policy.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Earlier, the Ministry of Education revealed its plan to recruit 1,000 foreign English teachers, prompted by the extension of English education to elementary schools, beginning in September.
To that end, it proposed offering those teachers salaries of between NT$60,000 and NT$90,000 per month.
"Foreign English teachers will not take away job opportunities from their domestic counterparts as the former will play an auxiliary role," Huang told a meeting of the legislature's Education and Culture Committee.
He added the pay schedules for foreign English teachers are still under review.
Earlier in the day, lawmakers from across party lines voiced concerns the policy would displace English teachers from Taiwan, who earn about half as much as their foreign counterparts.
TSU Legislator Chen Cheng-lung (程振隆) criticized the plan as loosely formulated, saying not all native-English speakers are equally qualified.
He suggested limiting the recruitment to only those with credentials and work experience in teaching English.
PFP Legislator Sheu Yuan-kuo (
Associate professors in Taiwan can make about NT$72,000 a month while assistant professors make about NT$65,000, he noted.
"I suggest the government reserve the teaching berths for domestic English teachers," Sheu said. "Native English-speakers with strange accents will not be more competent in any way."
Huang said the proposed pay schedule is based on the salaries of English teachers at a bilingual high school in the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park.
He reiterated that foreign teachers will play a supportive role in the ministry's plan to upgrade students' English proficiency.
Most of the foreign teachers will be sent to elementary and junior high schools in small cities and remote areas where English teachers are in short supply, the minister added.
"That being the case, they will not replace or squeeze out local English teachers," he said.
Foreigners are currently banned from teaching any subject in the nation's elementary and junior high schools.
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