Middle schools in Taiwan will start offering elective classes in the languages of Taiwan’s migrant communities. In the past, similar classes were introduced in elementary schools.
The Ministry of Education said on Thursday that almost 12,000 students across more than 1,200 schools signed up for the classes this year. The most popular class, by a wide margin, was Vietnamese, selected by almost 60% of students. Other popular languages included Indonesian, Thai, Filipino, Malay, Burmese, and Khmer.
The ministry says it will provide language teachers with resource packages, which will lighten their workload when preparing for classes. It also plans to promote the exchange of experience and feedback between educators.
Over 800,000 foreign nationals are long-term residents in Taiwan. In 2019, 7.4% of all schoolchildren came from families where at least one parent was an immigrant.