2015
Taiwan can no longer wait
The reduced focus on vocational education, over-expansion and inflation of universities, and the phenomenon of academic devaluation have become social problems for Taiwan. For children in rural areas, this is unfair and may make them helpless as they have taken on education loans to go to college, yet not gain employable skills. The Alliance, with support from its partners, has been quick to refine its focus on education issues and ensure that the development of basic education is firmly established.
In this regard, I am very pleased to inform The Alliance’s supporters that we have achieved visible results in these few years. For the training of international talent, we have a third candidate attending the Asian Executive Management Program (AEM) at the Brigham Young University-Hawaii (BYUH), while undergoing skills and leadership training at the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) in Hawaii. We are recruiting the fourth candidate presently. Our first candidate, Kwali, has returned to the Bulao Bulao Aboriginal Village to start a skills training school for the village youths, which allows for industry and the education sector to collaborate. The students would obtain professional licenses as well as their high school certification.
In terms of basic education, 2015 marks the first year Junyi becomes an experimental high school. The first batch of tenth graders made their own canoes from wood and rowed in the ocean as a challenge for their life skills and discovery module. We will also be extending the Waldorf education model and adopt the theme of “internationalization and linking to the world” for the curriculum of ninth to twelfth graders at Junyi. We will harness online learning technology to help the students achieve learning goals and acquire English skills effectively.
We will equip our high school students sufficiently for the real world, regardless of the intention to enroll in college or not. Most importantly, they will be able to discover their own talents and strengths, other than grow in their English skills and life skills such as focus and teamwork. As long as students are able to determine their own directions in the realms of art, technical and academic, we will guide them and prepare them to the best of our ability. As Junyi moves forward, we are keenly aware of our duty in education reform. Since two years ago, we have held workshops for the flipped classroom pedagogies at the Junyi Academy, which was set up with our partner in 2012.
Now we will be promoting coding as a programming language, in hope of connecting Taiwan’s education focus to be on par with the world. We will also be carrying out teachers’ training at the Junyi Centre for Teaching & Learning. Teachers from the west coast of Taiwan have come forth to actively participate in the monthly workshops with topics as such as the Waldorf model, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Emotional Management and Co-learning Groups.
As we press on with this huge endeavor with conviction, we are thankful for your passionate support. Political noise has caused Taiwan’s competitive advantage to dwindle. We will not stop our efforts but continue to push forward with our past successes and learning experiences. Thank you for keeping us going. Taiwan can no longer wait!
The reduced focus on vocational education, over-expansion and inflation of universities, and the phenomenon of academic devaluation have become social problems for Taiwan. For children in rural areas, this is unfair and may make them helpless as they have taken on education loans to go to college, yet not gain employable skills. The Alliance, with support from its partners, has been quick to refine its focus on education issues and ensure that the development of basic education is firmly established.
In this regard, I am very pleased to inform The Alliance’s supporters that we have achieved visible results in these few years. For the training of international talent, we have a third candidate attending the Asian Executive Management Program (AEM) at the Brigham Young University-Hawaii (BYUH), while undergoing skills and leadership training at the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) in Hawaii. We are recruiting the fourth candidate presently. Our first candidate, Kwali, has returned to the Bulao Bulao Aboriginal Village to start a skills training school for the village youths, which allows for industry and the education sector to collaborate. The students would obtain professional licenses as well as their high school certification.
In terms of basic education, 2015 marks the first year Junyi becomes an experimental high school. The first batch of tenth graders made their own canoes from wood and rowed in the ocean as a challenge for their life skills and discovery module. We will also be extending the Waldorf education model and adopt the theme of “internationalization and linking to the world” for the curriculum of ninth to twelfth graders at Junyi. We will harness online learning technology to help the students achieve learning goals and acquire English skills effectively.
We will equip our high school students sufficiently for the real world, regardless of the intention to enroll in college or not. Most importantly, they will be able to discover their own talents and strengths, other than grow in their English skills and life skills such as focus and teamwork. As long as students are able to determine their own directions in the realms of art, technical and academic, we will guide them and prepare them to the best of our ability. As Junyi moves forward, we are keenly aware of our duty in education reform. Since two years ago, we have held workshops for the flipped classroom pedagogies at the Junyi Academy, which was set up with our partner in 2012.
Now we will be promoting coding as a programming language, in hope of connecting Taiwan’s education focus to be on par with the world. We will also be carrying out teachers’ training at the Junyi Centre for Teaching & Learning. Teachers from the west coast of Taiwan have come forth to actively participate in the monthly workshops with topics as such as the Waldorf model, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Emotional Management and Co-learning Groups.
As we press on with this huge endeavor with conviction, we are thankful for your passionate support. Political noise has caused Taiwan’s competitive advantage to dwindle. We will not stop our efforts but continue to push forward with our past successes and learning experiences. Thank you for keeping us going. Taiwan can no longer wait!
Stanley C. Yen
Chairman
Chairman