TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — New Taipei on Monday (March 8) announced a program to improve the English curriculum for schools in remote areas as it reached the milestone of 100 foreign instructors employed in primary and secondary education.

In collaboration with the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan), the city government has introduced 10 English teachers to the city’s 16 elementary schools in rural areas for the 2021 school year.

The experimental program will focus on acquainting pupils with aspects of their local culture and environment taught in English. For example, students from a school near the tourist attraction of Yehliu Geopark — known for its honeycomb and mushroom rocks — will be given a bilingual guide to the area’s geological characteristics.

Meanwhile, the city of over four million inhabitants is expected to recruit 10 more English instructors by the end of this year, according to the Education Department. The pool of English educators will be managed with a support system that involves orientation training, on-the-job training, referrals between schools, and broader assistance for their life in Taiwan.

New Taipei is also eyeing the employment of 200 Taiwanese citizens qualified to hold bilingual classes in five years. The added resources will help create an English-speaking environment for the city’s youngsters.

Cities in Taiwan have moved toward commitments to boost English education in line with the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration’s vision for the country to go bilingual by 2030. Taipei announced last week the capital city’s six approaches to improving students’ English language skills, which center around cultivating talent capable of conducting bilingual classes.