The NDC continues to strengthen international cooperation to accelerate the implementation of the Bilingual Policy by leveraging the extensive resources and experience of friendly states and institutions to increase the reach and diversity of the Bilingual Policy. In addition to working with important international partner such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom on the recruitment of foreign teachers, empowerment of Taiwanese teachers, dual degree programs, and bilingual learning environments, the NDC also continues to actively expand new international partnerships and opportunities. The NDC and renowned international digital learning platform Coursera signed an MOU today (November 4) which will help channel advanced concepts and practices from across the world and leverage high-quality international courses to cultivate professional bilingual talents in Taiwan. The partnership will also promote the digital learning of National languages in Taiwan, create new horizons for digital learning in Taiwan's Bilingual Policy, and help connect the language policies of Taiwan with the world.
Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda led a delegation to Taiwan on November 4 to attend the "Bilingual Policy Digital Learning Forum" organized by the NDC and signed an MOU with Minister Kung Ming-hsin of the NDC. The NDC also arranged a meeting of the Coursera CEO's delegation and Vice President Lai Ching-te. Vice President Lai Ching-te has always supported the Bilingual Policy. He is happy to see cooperation with Coursera and stated that digital learning will help expand bilingual education to help students in rural areas enjoy the same education resources as children in urban areas.
Digital learning is an important media for supporting the Bilingual Policy. Coursera is the largest digital learning platform in the world and has extensive experience in working with users and governments across the world. It currently has 725,000 learners in Taiwan and has set up partnership programs with industry and academic institutions such as TSMC, National Taiwan University, and Taipei Medical University. The NDC has engaged Coursera in several rounds of discussions to promote international digital learning for the Bilingual Policy, and convened a video conference meeting in September this year to discuss ideas for enhancing the English language skills of civil servants and professionals. The MOU signed by the NDC and Coursera is based on previous discussions between the parties and includes details of the collaboration. The aim is to leverage Coursera's expertise and experience to help Taiwan promote digital learning in Taiwan's Bilingual Policy, and offer high-quality courses for Heluo and Hakka languages to introduce Taiwan's languages and culture to the world.
The "Bilingual Policy Digital Learning Forum" organized by the NDC was attended by the experts from the National Academy of Civil Service, Civil Service Development Institute, Radio Taiwan International, Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance, Taipei Medical University, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Taiwan. They shared their experience in the digital learning global trends, cultivation of bilingual talents in Taiwan, use of digital technologies to facilitate learning in tertiary education, and the future development of digital learning in the industry with the aim of strengthening bilingual, digital, and professional competencies.
President Tsai Ing-wen outlined the importance of bilingual and digital competencies in her inauguration speech in 2020 and specified the goal of cultivating more domestic talents and elites to bring citizens to the center of the global stage. For this purpose, the NDC and related agencies such as the Ministry of Education organized the six main goals for the Bilingual Policy with the aim of accelerating the development of bilingual higher education, balancing and optimizing bilingual conditions for schools at the senior high school level and below, developing digital learning, expanding provision of affordable English proficiency tests, raising civil servants’ English proficiency, and establishing administrative body dedicated to policy promotion and implementation. These measures will improve the effectiveness of the Bilingual Policy and provide the next generation with a more fruitful and satisfying future.
Sources: NDC
