Education Division Director Cynthia Huang (left) and Pender Makin, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Education with the signed documents

The Department of International and Cross-Strait Education of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education and the Maine Department of Education celebrated the signing of a sixth memorandum of understanding (MOU), reaffirming their long-standing commitment to educational collaboration. The MOU documents which had already been signed by Dr. Lee Yu-Jiuan 李毓娟, Director General of the Ministry of Education’s Department of International and Cross-Strait Education, were then signed by Pender Makin, Commissioner of Education for the State of Maine, at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston on January 22, 2025. The exchange was facilitated by Cynthia Huang, Director of the Education Division.

The collaboration that began with the signing of the initial MOU in 2009 has resulted in many educational exchanges, including professional development opportunities for teachers, and language education initiatives that help to promote and enhance the study of world languages in Maine. Highly qualified Mandarin teachers from Taiwan assist schools and institutions at the higher education level in Maine to enhance students’ learning and foster cultural understanding, and educational exchanges between secondary schools in Taiwan and in Maine to continue to grow. Five secondary schools in Taoyuan County in Taiwan offer their senior secondary level students a dual diploma program with Maine Central Institute (MCI).

The Ministry of Education has been promoting the inclusion of Taiwan's TOCFL—the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language—as one of the recognized instruments for Chinese language proficiency assessment for the Seals of Biliteracy awarded by different US states since 2022. This is in conjunction with widening language education cooperation, in accordance with the U.S.–Taiwan Education Initiative and Taiwan’s Mandarin Education Enhancement Program.

Maine was the first state in New England to approve TOCFL as one of the recognized assessment instruments for Chinese proficiency for its Seal of Biliteracy. The Maine Department of Education approved TOCFL as an assessment instrument for Chinese on March 18, 2024. Graduating secondary school students in Maine can now submit certificates received for having passed TOCFL at a suitable level to verify their eligibility to be awarded the Maine Seal of Biliteracy.

Two Maine residents are currently studying at universities in Taiwan after being awarded a Taiwan Scholarship: Ethan Robbins began a bachelor's degree at Shih Chien University in 2023, and Daniel Greene is undertaking a master's degree at National Taiwan Normal University in 2024.

This latest MOU is the first with a five-year term, rather than a three-year term. As well as supporting language learning, it will continue to facilitate collaborative research, curriculum development, and teacher training, supporting continuous professional growth of educators in Taiwan and in Maine alike. Fostering innovative programs and global perspectives promises to shape a richer educational landscape, and strengthen the ties between Taiwan and Maine.