New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi says he wants to implement a bilingual education program in the city’s public schools.
During a meeting with school principals on Friday, Hou said that New Taipei must connect with the international community. He said the only way to do so is by going bilingual.
Hou said he wants New Taipei to become a bilingual city by 2030. In order to achieve this goal, he says that schools in New Taipei will adopt the Content and Language Integrated Learning system. Under the curriculum, English will be the language of instruction for math and science classes. Hou also said that children must not only be comfortable with speaking English, but that they must love it as well.
Hou said that schools in New Taipei are on track to hire 100 foreign nationals as teachers this year. Hou said that his next step will be making the English language a part of students’ everyday lives.