TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Ministry of Education (MOE) signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Education Department of Queensland, Australia on Thursday (July 7) in an effort to expand exchange programs for Mandarin Chinese and English teachers on both sides.

The renewed MOU is expected to create more opportunities for both teachers and students to experience foreign culture, thus enhancing the motivation and outcome of language learning.

The MOU was signed online by Dr. Nicole Yen-Yi Lee (李彥儀), Director General of MOE’s Department of International and Cross-strait Education, and Michael De’Ath, Director General of Queensland’s Department of Education. The ceremony was witnessed by Edward Tao (陶令文), Director General of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brisbane, Australia.

In her speech, Dr. Lee said that Taiwan has collaborated with Queensland in education for years, having recruited 12 Chinese teaching assistants for schools in Queensland, while offering professional training for teachers from Queensland.

In line with Taiwan’s “Bilingual 2030” initiative, MOE will encourage schools in Taiwan and Queensland to partner as sister schools, and invite qualified teachers from Queensland to teach English in Taiwan. In March, Taiwan also signed a three-year education MOU with the state of Alabama, U.S., which aims to facilitate academic exchanges and language teacher exchanges.