Education Director Lin accompanies Kaohsiung City Delegation to Chino Nursery School in Chino City in Nagano Prefecture, Japan

Tsai Po-Ying (蔡柏英), Deputy Director-General of the Secretariat of Kaohsiung City Government; Fan Sun-Lu (范巽綠), director of the Kaohsiung Education Bureau; Yao Yu-Ching (姚雨靜), director of the Kaohsiung Social Affairs Bureau; and ten principals of elementary and junior high schools in Kaohsiung visited Chino Nursery School in Nagano Prefecture (長野縣), accompanied by Lin Shih-Yin (林世英組長), director of the Education Division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan.

Kaohsiung City and Nagano Prefecture signed an agreement on tourism and education five years ago, and since its signing, Chino City (茅野市) has been working very hard to expand education related exchanges with Kaohsiung City. Four schools in Chino City signed sister school agreements with schools in Kaohsiung two years ago, and exchange programs are implemented each year. Director Fan pointed out that Kaohsiung City has put much effort into emphasizing education with an international vision, and she urged schools in Kaohsiung to enhance their participation in global education.

Kaohsiung and Chino City share a very similar vision of international education. Both hope to broaden and deepen the educational ties between their elementary and preschool level schools, in addition to the ties that their junior high schools already have. Chino City puts emphasis on educating people who can find employment and establish themselves, and also make a contribution towards society in this 21st century.
Chino Nursery School in Chino City is known as a “School full of smiles and laughter.” The nursery school incorporates a lot of reading and sporting exercises elements into its courses. Kaohsiung similarly emphasizes the importance of both reading and exercising for its preschoolers. Chino Nursery School has also put a lot of effort into contributing to and interacting with the local communities. It provides opportunities for the preschoolers to interact with the locals to let them discover and learn more about their local environment and culture.

Chino Nursery School introduced the flag of Taiwan to the children and taught them how to paint and color the flags of Taiwan and Japan, before the visit of the delegation. When the delegation arrived on January 19, 2018, the children gave the visitors a warm welcome, holding the flags of Japan and Taiwan. It was a good experience for the children to personally take part in this international exchange.

Photo:Children at Chino Nursery School welcoming the Taiwan delegation with the flags of Taiwan and Japan they had made.