Taiwan talents will expand education exchanges with their counterparts in Thailand, as a visiting high-level Thai education delegation in late May highlights the President Tsai Ing-wen administration’s priority to boost ties with Southeast Asian countries under its New Southbound Policy.

This is the first time an education delegation from a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations visited Taiwan after Tsai took office May 20.

Led by Adinan Pakbara, secretary-general of the Office of the Private Education Commission, the group consisted of education directors from the Thai provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Satun, Songkhla and Yala, the five regions with the largest ethnic Chinese population in Thailand besides Bangkok.

There are two main purposes of the trip: seek more Taiwan teachers to teach Chinese in Thailand and boost cooperation on vocational education between two countries, said Peter Chen, section chief of the Department of International and Cross-strait Education at Taiwan’s Ministry of Education.

Older ethnic Chinese in Thailand speak Mandarin, but the younger generation does not, Chen said, adding that this is why the Thai government needs more Mandarin teachers to help teach the latter Chinese.

With the assistance of the MOE, the Thai delegation toured the Mandarin Learning Center of National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei City, Taipei Kai-Ping Culinary School, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, and a number of private vocational schools.

According to Chen, Pakbara was impressed with the management, curriculum and student activities of the Taiwan institutions because they match theory with practice.

Lisa Yeh, public relations specialist with TKPCS, said the Thai delegation visited the culinary school and had lunch at its restaurant, which is staffed by students. After witnessing the student’s cooking skills and the standard of table service, the Thai delegation wanted to discuss opportunities for more cooperation and exchanges with Taiwan.

There has been educational dialogue and exchanges between Taiwan and Thailand for many years. Both have similar education systems, and there is a huge Chinese population in Thailand studying at private schools. This explains the demand for Mandarin teachers.

Taiwan and Thailand signed an educational cooperation agreement in 2013. Key to the agreement is the Elite 600 Scholarship Program, under which for the following five years, 600 Thai students will study master’s or doctorate degrees in Taiwan for free while their living expenses are paid by Thailand.

The latest MOE statistics reveal that there are 1,481 Thai students studying in Taiwan, with over 50 percent pursuing academic degrees. ASEAN members accounted for 39 percent of the total number of foreign students at colleges in Taiwan in 2015. Thailand ranks No. 4 in this area after Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. (WF-E)

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