《TAIPEI TIMES》 US official praises education environment

/ Staff writer, with CNA

A visiting US official yesterday praised Taiwan for its “free and vibrant education environment,” saying that is the reason Washington works with Taipei on language education as part of an initiative launched in 2020.

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Camille Dawson, deputy assistant secretary in the US Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, made the remarks at a press event in Taipei following the conclusion of the latest round of talks on bilateral education cooperation.

She said the US considers Taiwan a partner, because “you have a free and vibrant education environment, free of coercion or censorship, similar to what we enjoy in the United States.”

“This morning, we reflected on what the initiative has already achieved, increased opportunities for both US students to study in Taiwan, and for Taiwan teachers and students to go to the United States,” she said.

One of the areas the meeting touched on was bilateral cooperation on developing ties regarding education from kindergarten through the 12th-grade （K-12）, Dawson said.

K-12 refers to publicly supported school grades in the US.

She said the department has drafted a letter to the nonprofit Council of Chief State School Officers to endorse cooperation with Taiwan on Mandarin teaching at K-12 levels in the US.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee （李淳） said both sides agreed to deepen their collaboration in education.

“Our new priority is a desire to enhance the work that we do together. This includes a fruitful discussion on language exchanges and educational cooperation,” Lee said.

He said Taiwan has signed more than 20 education-related memorandums of understanding with US states.

The government has been promoting university-to-university cooperation by establishing Taiwan Centers for Mandarin Learning on US campuses, he added.

“The deepening cooperation between the US and Taiwan continues to highlight our shared values and common interests as we seek to support free and open education about like-minded democratic countries,” Lee said.

The dialogue was held under the US-Taiwan Education Initiative signed in December 2020.

The initiative aims to expand opportunities for US students to learn Mandarin from Taiwanese teachers, as well as opportunities for US teachers to help Taiwan achieve its goal of becoming a bilingual society by 2030.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March last year agreed to spend US$790,000 on three state department-managed exchange programs （NSLI-Y, CLS and Gilman）, the American Institute in Taiwan’s fact sheet on the initiative showed.

Meanwhile, more Americans have been traveling to Taiwan to learn Mandarin and teach English, particularly through the Fulbright ETA program, it said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES