By Rachel Lin and Sam Garcia / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Ministry of Education distributed a total of NT$151 million (US$4.73 million) to 271 high schools nationwide last year to support bilingual education.

The subsidy program is a part of the national Bilingual 2030 policy, which seeks to integrate English into Taiwan’s education system, public administration and daily life.

With the funds, schools are encouraged to offer English courses taught entirely in the target language, as well as instruct some subjects bilingually and conduct online exchanges with overseas schools, K-12 Education Administration official Yeh Hsin-tsun (葉信村) said.

Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Education

They are also encouraged to design diverse, engaging and life-oriented bilingual learning activities, Yeh added.

The goal is to create a bilingual campus environment where students and teachers learn together, making English not just a classroom subject, but a practical tool for everyday life, Yeh said.

For example, Taichung Municipal Wen-Hua Senior High School held an English presentation competition about sustainable development goals, guiding students to research, organize ideas and present in English, Yeh said.

Students engaged in critical thinking and expressed themselves entirely in English, showing how it can be used as a medium for learning and not just a language to study, he added.

In addition, National Hsinchu Commercial Vocational High School offers workplace English courses that help students gain the English skills necessary for their future careers, the ministry said.

Courses require students to use English to communicate and express themselves in simulated work environments, accumulating practical experience using English in the workplace, it said.

At the Affiliated Taoyuan Agricultural and Industrial Senior High School of National Taipei University of Technology, students give visiting international guests campus tours, using English to communicate, the ministry said.

Yeh said that the ministry is to collect schools’ experiences to improve policies aimed at expanding bilingual learning in high schools, making English an important tool for students to understand the world and express themselves.