A total of 80 English teaching assistants will serve in schools in six locations around Taiwan this year.
The News Lens
Date: 2016/09/08
By: Samantha Kong
This month 80 young college graduates from American universities arrive in Taiwan to take up
Photo Credit：U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Bill Larned CC0
positions for the coming academic year as English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) in public schools. The initiative, sponsored by the Fulbright Program, began in 2000 with the assignment of just six teaching assistants, all in one location, Yilan County. The program has steadily expanded since then, and the current 80 ETAs will serve in schools in six counties and cities: Yilan, Kinmen, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taitung, and Taipei.
“The ETA program enables young Americans to come, interact, learn, and experience the culture by teaching,” says Kelly Chang, the program’s lead coordinator.
Taiwan has become one of the most popular destinations for participants in the 72 ETA programs worldwide. According to the U.S.-based Institute of International Education (IIE), which manages the Fulbright programs, Taiwan accounted for roughly 38% of all applications received this year for the 16 locations in the East-Asia Pacific region. “Taiwan is a great place and the word gets around,” explains William C. Vocke, Jr., executive director of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan). [FULL STORY]
