Minister of the National Development Council, Kung Ming-hsin, Jenny Bloomfield, Representative at the Australian Office, and Minister of Education, Dr. Wen-Chung Pan

Taiwan’s National Development Council, Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, and the Australian Office in Taipei jointly launched the Australia–Taiwan English Language Learning Partnership Action Plan on August 17.

The Action Plan will promote a wide range of English language learning initiatives and deepen the already close education, vocational training, talent and youth links between Australia and Taiwan, to help Taiwan achieve its goal of becoming a bilingual nation by 2030.

The signing ceremony took place in Taipei, attended by the Minister of Education, Dr. Wen-Chung Pan; Jenny Bloomfield, Representative at the Australian Office Taipei; Minister Kung Ming-hsin, National Development Council; senior officials of the Taiwanese government, and of the Australian Office in Taipei, and New Colombo Plan Scholars in Taiwan.

Minister of Education, Dr. Pan, Minister of the National Development Council, Dr. Kung, and Representative Jenny Bloomfield each made remarks at the signing ceremony. Dr. Pan said that the Ministry of Education is implementing bilingual education with three goals - comprehensively increasing capabilities, narrowing gaps, and focused cultivation - and he expressed his hope that the bilingual education and online teaching modules used by Taiwan and Australia in secondary, tertiary and vocational education will spark new opportunities for broadening and deepening cooperation. Dr. Pan also emphasized the excellence of Taiwan’s Mandarin language education. Read the official Chinese language press release of the MOE here

Jenny Bloomfield, Representative at the Australian Office, said that Australia is one of the most multicultural and multilingual countries in the world, and ranks among the world’s top three destinations for international education. This makes Australia a natural partner for Taiwan as it moves toward its Bilingual 2030 goals. Read Representative Jenny Bloomfield’s remarks in full here

Dr. Kung pointed out that the Action Plan lays out a framework for the content of future cooperation between Taiwan and Australia. It adopts different approaches to expand cooperation and links related to English language learning and teacher training, and comprehensively links Mandarin language education related resources and connections. This will facilitate talent circulation and professional skills exchanges between Taiwan and Australia. Read the NDC press release here