The nation’s overseas Chinese-language learning programs are vital tools of diplomacy, high-ranking officials said on Tuesday at a summit on strategies for the Taiwan Centers for Mandarin Learning.
Language education experts, nearly 100 Chinese-language teachers and several diplomats attended the first day of the two-day event entitled International Summit on Mandarin Education in Taiwan at the Overseas Community Council in Taipei.
The council is considering a Web platform to enable Taiwanese Chinese-language teachers around the world to communicate and learn from the experiences of others, Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said.
Photo courtesy of the Overseas Community Affairs Council
The council hopes its investment in technology would bring together people from a diverse array of cultures and ethnicities, Hsu said, adding that the council’s mission is to burnish the international image of Taiwan’s Mandarin education.
Taiwan Centers of Mandarin Education has become a representation of the nation itself in many important ways, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) said.
The nation should boost the number of centers without losing sight of program quality, which is more essential to success than the number of schools, he said.
Navigating the distinct education systems of foreign countries poses a significant challenge to educators working abroad, he said, adding that a multi-ministerial joint effort is key to overcoming problems.
The hard work put into the effort is already paying dividends and the agencies involved are to continue expanding its success, Hsu Szu-chien said.
The intergovernmental collaboration was prompted by the Ministry of Education’s Mandarin Education 2025 project, which must achieve its goals in one year, Deputy Minister of Education Lio Mon-chi (劉孟奇) said.
Taiwan’s Chinese-language education is an important part of the national strategy and the ministry aims to open language schools in countries targeted by the New Southbound Policy, even as it promotes collaborations with the US and Europe, Lio said.
Giving foreign-student status to people who took Chinese-language advanced placement classes was a breakthrough and the ministry hopes to recruit foreign students at their country of origin, he said.
American Institute in Taiwan Acting Deputy Chairman Richard Jao (饒昌明) learned Chinese in a doctoral program at Columbia University in New York under a passionate instructor from Taiwan, Lio said.
“Without him, I would not be here today,” Jao said in a remark addressed to educators in the audience. “You play an extremely important role.”
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