Government’s Public Service
Which government agencies are responsible for foreign teacher recruitment and relevant affairs in the central and local governments respectively?
- At central government level: the Bureau of International Cultural and Educational Relations and the Department of Elementary and Junior-High Education, Ministry of Education.
- At local government and school level: the Department of Education of the local government and the schools. (For the name list of personnel responsible for such affairs, see Table 1. The list is currently being modified due to staff restructuring)
- Services offered by the government agencies include consultation, communication, coordination and other affairs relevant to foreign teachers in Taiwan.
What package should the Departments of Education of local governments offer?
The Departments of Education should assist with affairs specified as follows:
- Application for employment permits (work permits):
The Departments of Education should assist with applications for employment permits (work permits) for foreign teachers if necessary.
- Provide assistance in daily life:
The Departments of Education should assist with daily affairs concerning foreign teachers such as pick-up services, accommodation, information on eating (in the beginning), medical services, insurance, shopping, transportation and so on in the hope of helping foreign teachers adjust to life in Taiwan as smoothly as possible.
- Offering support for teaching:
The Departments of Education or schools themselves should hold orientation training to promote foreign teachers’ capacities for teaching and classroom management.
- Offer teaching materials:
Foreign teachers should be equipped with sufficient teaching materials in order to cooperate with domestic teachers to plan and conduct teaching and to implement the curriculum in an integral, consistent, and continuous manner.
- Provide necessary information:
Useful information and support may effectively comfort any negative emotions of foreign teachers resulting from life and work pressures. Such jobs are better assigned to the advisory panel of English teaching or to a specific local school.
- Provide channels for communication:
This measure aims to assist foreign teachers to adjust to living in Taiwan, thus settling their emotions and feelings.
- Provide sufficient furniture, appliances, and rental information:
The Departments of Education or the schools themselves should help provide foreign teachers with basic furniture and appliances (such as bed, desk, chair, and bathroom facilities) to an acceptable extent and should provide them with rental information if necessary.