The US government is to increase funding for the Foundation for Scholarly Exchanges to US$1 million to boost the US-Taiwan Education Initiative, American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk said on Tuesday.
The foundation — also known as Fulbright Taiwan — is sponsored by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Oudkirk made the comment at a conference at National Chung Cheng University.
The bilateral education initiative would help Taiwan attract students to study Mandarin in the country and realize its goal of becoming a fully bilingual nation by 2030, she said.
The US and Taiwan have worked closely in the field of education, and the two countries exchange thousands of educators and students annually, she added.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), who attended the event by teleconference, said that the best way to bridge the cultural and societal gaps between the two countries is through collaboration in education.
The US Department of State has allocated substantial resources to improve scholarships in Taiwan over the past year, during which time 11 Taiwanese higher-learning institutions have launched Mandarin education programs with their US counterparts, he said.
Cheng Sheng-yao (鄭勝耀), director of the Graduate Institute of Education at the university said that making Taiwanese fluent in Mandarin and English is an important government policy.
The British Office in Taipei and the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office attended the event, showing that the education initiative is of interest to the world, he added.
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