The education ministry yesterday said 20,260 foreign spouses nationwide have enrolled in adult education classes to learn Mandarin since September last year, an improvement from 16,000 the year before.
Hsieh Ming-chao (謝明昭), a Department of Social Education official, said the classes were initially designed for illiterate Taiwanese, but since 1999, the number of foreign spouses in the country has been rising and the classes have become an important means of language education for them.
Listening, reading and writing in Mandarin are taught in the classes which take place two to three times a week, Hsieh said. The classes are divided into beginners, intermediate and advanced levels, she added.
The results have been positive and more foreign spouses are learning Mandarin, Hsieh said.
There are currently 1,013 adult education language classes held across the country.
Evening classes, which differ from the adult education classes, are offered at local elementary and junior high schools and teach not only Mandarin, but also math, science and social studies, she said.
Hsieh said that this provided an opportunity for foreign spouses to learn other subjects. The evening classes were designed for the elderly or drop-outs in the past, but most students in the classes are now foreign spouses, she said.
Foreign spouses are officially enrolled in school if they take these evening classes and may receive degrees at the end of their studies, Hsieh said.
Since September last year, 9,446 foreign spouses have enrolled in elementary school evening classes and 804 in junior high ones.
Roughly 23 percent of non-Chinese spouses are enrolled in either language classes or evening school classes.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
RSS