The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a draft bill that would establish a “bilingual national development center,” an executive entity to promote the government’s bilingual policies, with the improvement of civil servants’ English skills being one of its aims.
If the bill, pending legislative review, is passed in the upcoming legislative session, the center would be established by the end of this year at the earliest, the National Development Council said, adding that it would recruit talent in education, digital technology and non-governmental organizations.
The bill clearly states that the center would be an administrative entity supervised by the council and funded by the government. The center would have a president and an executive officer at its head, as well as a board of nine to 11 members and three supervisors.
All personnel would be selected by the council and then hired by the premier, the bill states.
English training would prioritize civil servants working in international affairs, the council’s Department of Overall Planning Director-General Connie Chang (張惠娟) told a news conference following the Cabinet meeting.
The center would not compete with private agencies, but collaborate on improving the nation’s bilingual environment, she said.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that the center would gather resources from across departments to promote bilingual policies.
The Executive Yuan would step up efforts to promote a bilingual environment in higher education and take steps to ensure that high-school students are adequately exposed to English, Chang said.
The Ministry of Education would develop more course modules for educators, she added.
The syllabi, set in 2019, would not be changed, and promotion of a bilingual environment would not fill time slots previously assigned to other courses, she said.
The government hopes to increase the credibility of the nation’s General English Proficiency Test so that its results are accepted by universities, companies and other organizations abroad, Chang said, citing the higher costs of other English proficiency examinations.
Additional reporting by CNA
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