First ever Taiwan–Malaysia Online Education Fair and Marathon Webinars Promote Taiwan Education Despite COVID-19
In response to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federation of Alumni Associations of Taiwan Universities, Malaysia (FAATUM) has successfully created a new normal for promoting the higher education environment in Taiwan: holding a virtual Education Fair, and webinars. These transformed education events are offering services to the public very effectively in different forms.
FAATUM began using online education fairs, counseling sessions, and talks to encourage Malaysian students to undertake further study in Taiwan in April and it invited representatives of universities and colleges in Taiwan to share information about their institution in the webinar sessions.
Students and parents can obtain the latest information on Taiwan’s education environment and details about universities and colleges in Taiwan by viewing these webinars. The audience can leave comments or ask questions that the representatives can reply to immediately during the live interactive webinars. According to FAATUM, the webinars have already been viewed more than 100,000 times since April.
Dato’ Ting Siew Haw, chairperson of FAATUM, spoke at one of the webinars and encouraged young Malaysian to do further study in Taiwan. He acknowledged the successful effort of the Taiwanese government and people to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and thus create a safe and healthy study environment option for international students.
On June 28, Dr. Charlin Chang, the director of the Education Division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia spoke about the uniqueness of Taiwan’s education environment, especially its rapid development of technological and innovative education that has dramatically transformed the philosophy of education.
Giving FAATUM due credit, she said that the webinars are an example of the current development and important role of internet technology in Taiwan’s higher education industry and they meet the preferences of the young generation. She thanked FAATUM for creating this innovative way to encourage collaboration of education between Malaysia and Taiwan, despite the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For students interested in further study in Taiwan, the education fair is still available online at https://student.overseas.ncnu.edu.tw/exhibition-malaysia/schoolList.html. It provides information about universities and colleges in Taiwan, details of their special features, and various scholarships available. Online talks, counseling sessions, and other educational events can all be found on the Facebook page of FAATUM (https://m.facebook.com/taiwanhighereducation/) and students and parents can view the videos at their convenience.