I. Overview

The Program on Developing Indigenous Education (2026–2030) (hereinafter referred to as “the Program”) is jointly established and promoted by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) in accordance with Article 9 of the Indigenous Peoples Education Act. The Program is a continuation of the Five-year Program for the Development and Improvement of Indigenous Peoples Education initiated in 1993, which was subsequently renamed the Five-year Medium-term Independent Cases Program for the Development of Indigenous Peoples Education (2006–2015), the Five-year Medium-term Program for the Development of Indigenous Peoples Education (2016–2020), and the Program on Developing Indigenous Education (2021–2025), thereby ensuring the systematic and sustained advancement of indigenous education.

      Based on the principles articulated in the Indigenous Peoples Education Act, indigenous education aims to safeguard the dignity and honor of indigenous people, ensure the continuing vitality of each indigenous people, advance the well-being of indigenous people, and boost indigenous people’s sense of collective pride in their identity. It prioritizes addressing the needs of Indigenous peoples regarding historical justice and transitional justice, while also ensuring the realization of educational rights for both Indigenous individuals and Indigenous peoples as a collective. Building on the outcomes of the previous programs, this program continues to follow the guiding principles of “establishing a comprehensive system, deepening indigenous consciousness, cultivating indigenous talents, and respecting diversity and shared prosperity” and sets forth core objectives and key directions for the development of indigenous education over the next five years. The implementation period of this program is five years, starting from January 2026 to December 2030.

II. Objectives and Priorities

      This program comprises five objectives, seven implementation strategies, 48 concrete measures, and 16 main performance indicators. Among these, the implementation strategies, with responsibilities respectively undertaken by the MOE and the CIP, include: (1) expanding the knowledge systems to strengthen ethnic education courses, (2) planning diverse options to facilitate students’ development according to their abilities, (3) strengthening basic education and refining talent cultivation strategies to build capacity for indigenous peoples’ development, (4) utilizing emerging technologies to facilitate the transmission of indigenous languages and cultures, (5) enhancing Indigenous Education for All to create an ethnically inclusive and indigenous-friendly environment, (6) innovating teacher education to meet the needs of teaching practice, and (7) reinforcing supportive measures to realize indigenous peoples’ autonomy in education. The strategies are designed to achieve the following five core objectives:

(I) Continue to improve education policies to uphold indigenous peoples’ autonomy

The program aims to keep building supportive networks to facilitate indigenous peoples' pursuit of collective autonomy in education, assist local governments in implementing the Indigenous Peoples Education Act, and promote mechanisms for indigenous peoples’ participation in the development of courses and teaching materials. It also seeks to integrate smart governance with educational statistics to support indigenous peoples and tribal communities in evidence-based collaborative participation in education policy planning.

(II) Build an indigenous education system with diverse pathways

The program aims to assist indigenous peoples in building an education system with diverse pathways across all levels of education, respond to the right to provide educational choice for parents and students, address the needs of indigenous peoples’ collective development, and cultivate new generations of indigenous peoples with bicultural competence.

(III) Deepen policies on ethnic education and Indigenous Education for All

The program aims to deepen the development of indigenous knowledge systems and translate them into curriculum guidelines and teaching materials for ethnic education across all levels of schools. It also seeks to collaborate with academic and educational institutions to promote research on ethnic educational theories and practices, thereby establishing a systematic foundation for practical implementation. At the same time, it will leverage teacher capacity building, student affairs, and psychological counseling services to create an indigenous-friendly campus environment, as well as utilize emerging technological tools to comprehensively enhance the reach and accessibility of ethnic education and Indigenous Education for All courses.

(IV) Optimize mechanisms for guaranteeing access to further education and talent cultivation

The program aims to optimize mechanisms for guaranteeing access to further education in accordance with demographic changes and the talent needs of indigenous peoples. It also encourages universities and colleges to guide indigenous students in giving equal emphasis to general academic subjects and indigenous cultural learning. In response to different categories of talent needs, the program will explore guiding policy and institutional mechanisms to address the development needs of indigenous peoples. It will also assist indigenous youth in connecting their cultural heritage with the international community, thereby cultivating new generations of indigenous talents with both local and global outlooks.

(V) Diversify teacher education to address the development needs of indigenous education

For experimental and indigenous key schools, the program aims to cultivate teachers who are ready for immediate classroom practice. It also seeks to promote a centralized teacher education system to develop new generations of indigenous teachers with comprehensive ethnic educational literacy. In response to the demand for Indigenous Education for All, the program will further enhance teachers' understanding of indigenous education issues. In addition, it seeks to attract young people to participate in indigenous language transmission, thereby cultivating new generations of indigenous language teaching teams.