The Pingtung chapter of World Vision Taiwan (WVT) has set up 10 after-school English classes in rural districts of the southern county in an effort to offer help to children living in poverty, a spokeswoman for the charity group said yesterday.
The program is geared toward providing students whose parents are unable to afford cram school or private after-school classes with a sound learning environment in which they can improve their English language abilities, broaden their world views and build upon their interpersonal skills, said Yu Hsiu-yun (瑜秀雲), supervisor of the WVT's Pingtung chapter.
"The program offers students an opportunity to gain knowledge not offered in books and at the same time to prosper and gain happy memories from learning," Yu said.
Currently classes accommodate a total of 1,055 students in rural Pingtung, of which 38 percent are of elementary school age, Yu said.
The WVT Pingtung chapter recently hosted an "English Follow Me" performance for students to demonstrate the skills that they have learned.
More than 140 students who participated in the classes performed in shows such as a cheerleading contest, an English play contest, a word-search contest, an English song contest and an English reading contest.
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