The government is to require schoolchildren in areas where Hakka is widely spoken to learn the language as part of efforts to help the ethnic group preserve its mother tongue, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
The launch of a Hakka radio station on Friday represented a step forward in the promotion and passing down of the Hakka language and culture, Tsai said on Facebook.
The government is now pushing an amendment to the Hakka Basic Act (客家基本法) to list Hakka as a national language, Tsai said.
It would represent an official “upgrade” from its designation as a folk language — the same privilege given to more than 50 languages spoken in Taiwan, she said.
In so-called Priority Development Areas for Hakka Culture, Hakka services are to be provided gradually at government offices, and Hakka is to become a required course in elementary-and-junior-high schools, she added.
The government would firmly support the promotion of Hakka, Tsai said, adding that the language is “the root of the Hakka people and Hakka culture.”
According to a survey commissioned by the Hakka Affairs Council in 2014, about 4.2 million people identified as Hakka, accounting for 18 percent of the nation’s population and forming the second-largest ethnic group after Hoklo.
The council has designated 70 townships and districts in 11 counties and cities where Hakka people account for more than one-third of the total population as priority development areas for Hakka culture, as stipulated in the Hakka Basic Act.
Of the 70 townships and districts, 18 are in Miaoli County, 11 in Hsinchu County and eight each in Pingtung and Hualien counties, as well as in Taoyuan.
There are five areas in Taichung, four in Kaohsiung, three in Taitung County, two in Hsinchu City and Nantou County, and one in Yunlin County.
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