Following Premier William Lai’s August announcement that English is to be officially recognised as one of the national languages of Taiwan, the Ministry of Education (MoE) in Taipei has now revealed more details regarding their plans to expand English-medium education within local schools. The government’s plans include amending existing laws and the national curriculum so as to increase the number of hours of English-medium teaching at primary and secondary level as well as the number of bilingual (English and Mandarin) classes from next year.

Currently, there are only a few schools that are able to deliver bilingual classes. However, over the next few years, the MoE aims to provide local students with an additional 168 bilingual classes and to grant official bilingual status to 24 designated schools. Additionally, around 720 schools will be given special funding in order to help develop their bilingual teaching methodology and materials in the subject areas of Geography, History, Maths, and Science. To support these plans, government estimates (according to the Taiwan News, 11 October) are that Taiwan may require an additional 5,000 English-speaking teachers. The demand for foreign teachers (of both English and other subjects) with a native level of English language proficiency will increase drastically to 4,600 (from 700 currently). Furthermore, to boost the number of  local teachers qualified to deliver English-medium education, a new budget has been set aside by the government to encourage at least 1,000 local graduates seeking a career in teaching to further their studies overseas.
 

Sources:

• Taiwan to increase hours of English taught in schools, 4,600 new foreign teachers needed

www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3550168
 

• Taiwan to make English an official second language next year: Premier Lai

www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3515890 

Comments by Karen Hsu, Education Services Manager, Hong Kong

According to the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2018, Taiwan's economic performance has declined since last year, with its overall Competitiveness Ranking dropping from 14 in 2017 to 17 in 2018, meaning that Taiwan is now being outperformed by China (13). Taiwan is now keen to enhance its international competitiveness by developing the skills of its younger generation – especially English ability. Not only will a better command of the English language among Taiwanese young people increase the attractiveness of studying abroad, but it will also facilitate more effective communication between UK Higher Education institutions and prospective students in Taiwan. UK institutions are encouraged to follow this developing situation closely and to prepare for a likely increase in the demand for Higher Education courses, especially those that prepare students for qualifications related to education and teaching English. Meanwhile, it’s also worth noting that, ever since the announcement by the government that English would be made an official second language, the British Council office in Taiwan have noticed an increase in the number of enquiries from local schools with regards to our teacher training programme for English teachers. We will keep the sector posted should there be any new collaboration initiatives resulting from this interest.