A Taiwanese-Philippine foundation on Sunday said that it has raised more than 10 million pesos (US$197,250) to recruit instructors from Taiwan to teach Mandarin at a college in Manila.
Taiwan-Philippines Educational Development Foundation president Kao Shih-cheng (高士誠) told a reception that the plan was conceived this year to address a shortage of Chinese-language teachers at Chiang Kai-shek College, which was established by Chinese Filipinos in 1939.
Many young people in the Philippines are unwilling to start a career teaching Chinese, mainly because they believe it is a profession that does not pay that well, Kao said.
Kao said that hopefully, the donated money would help bring talented instructors from Taiwan to fill the gap and promote the use of traditional Chinese characters at the college.
The donations were made possible with help from the Culture Center of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines and Taiwanese expatriates in the country, the foundation said.
Ma Li-ling (馬儷玲), director of the college’s Office for Chinese Academic Instruction, said she once asked a graduating student whether she would be interested in teaching at the school, but she rejected the offer, citing insufficient pay.
The student said she would rather work in the service industry, as the salaries were more attractive, Ma said.
Yu Cheng-tsai (尤正才), who heads the Taipei office in Manila, said that starting salaries for Chinese-language teachers in the Philippines are typically 20,000 pesos per month, comparable to starting salaries for schoolteachers in the Philippines.
This makes it difficult to recruit experienced teachers, let alone those with a post-graduate degree, Yu said.
With the fund, new teachers to the college from Taiwan are eligible for a monthly stipend of 15,000 pesos, he said.
Hopefully, local teachers will also be able to benefit from similar funds, Ma said.
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