TCU Visits the Philippines and Thailand, to Set Up Overseas Education Centers and Recruiting International Students

Professor Je-Wen Liou recently accompanied TCU’s faculty members and staff from the Office of International Affairs and International College to visit the Philippines and Thailand. They worked with Tzu Chi Foundation’s branches in the Philippines and Thailand to set up Education Centers in Manila and Bangkok in the near future. Later, they went to northern Thailand to introduce TCU to prospective students.

Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines Branch CEO Henry Yunez said: “The Philippines is so close to Taiwan, geographically, so we need to have more collaboration. There are so many schools which are near our Tzu Chi Manila Branch. They offer Chinese classes, but are unable to recruit enough Chinese language teachers who are capable of teaching Chinese with humaneness. More than that, the children of many Tzu Chi volunteers are students at these nearby schools. Thus, TCU’s willingness to assist these schools will surely attract many students to consider TCU for their undergraduate studies. Tzu Chi Foundation Branch CEOs in the Philippines and Thailand highly expect that TCU’s Education Centers will be helpful for TCU to recruit more international students, train Chinese language teachers for schools in the Philippines and Thailand, and attract Taiwanese students to teach Chinese overseas. The Philippines is in need of many Chinese language teachers, and local schools will be very happy to see many teachers equipped with Chinese teaching skills and Tzu Chi’s humanistic qualities joining them.

Professor Kun-Yi Ho is a TCU faculty member. He is in charge of formulating the International College’s language program and coordinating its Chinese Language Program. He studied the needs of Tzu Chi Foundation’s overseas branches and came up with “International Chinese Education, Version 2.0.” This program requires TCU students who take Chinese teaching classes to teach Chinese overseas, and provides classes to train overseas students to become Chinese language teachers. Professor Ho has extensive experience in training Chinese language teachers, and he wishes to attend to the needs of each of Tzu Chi’s overseas branches, by coming up with suitable programs to help each to meet its educational needs, and enable TCU’s faculty members and students to demonstrate professionalism and humaneness through their Chinese classes.

Professor Je-Wen Liou represented TCU, and Mr. Sayan Tailee represented Rajadamri School, as they signed an agreement for the future collaboration. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Tzu Chi Foundation Thailand Branch CEO Sukanay Rimphanawet. Mr. Sayan Tailee, the principal of Rajadamri School, expressed himself touchingly: “Chinese learning is very popular in Thailand, so many schools offer Chinese classes, and our school is no exception. Yet, we are short of Chinese language teachers throughout Thailand, we at Rajadamri School only have four Chinese language teachers, who are all our fellow countrymen. I am grateful that CEO Lin has arranged this opportunity for us, and we would love to work with TCU on a long-term basis.”

Later on, the delegation went to Chiangmai Tzu Chi School and Ban Yang’s Zhong Zen Middle School, to introduce TCU and recruit students. Many local high school students took part in this event.

While they were at Chiangmai Tzu Chi School, Professor Je-Wen Liou introduced TCU to local students, and Anita Yang presided over a Q&A session. Through an outstanding Thai interpretation by Supot Saeper, an alumnus of TCU’s Department of English Language and Literature, all participants had a basic understanding of TCU’s educational goals and each department/institute. Professor Liou said that TCU really cares about international students and we try our best to care for them; moreover, TCU tries to prepare international students to meet the needs of employers around the world, and enhance their dispositions to excel in their lifetimes. He encouraged these prospective students to cherish their college years, to acquire their professional skills and knowledge in Taiwan, and enhance their international perspectives.

Ban Yang’s Zhong Zen Middle School was the first school in northern Thailand which offered Chinese language classes. The villagers of Ban Yang admire Chinese culture, and school principal Phaisan Wathanasiriwilaikun loves education and Taiwan. He said: “Finally, we can meet our friends from one of the best universities in Taiwan, and I am grateful that Tzu Chi University’s faculty members and staff have come here to let us know more about themselves. After listening to their presentations, I feel very confident to encourage our students to go to Taiwan and study at TCU. I would like to ask these students to come back home after completing their studies in Taiwan, and apply what they learn at TCU to serve our villagers. We are going to get older, so passing on Chinese cultural heritage will be on our students’ shoulders.” TCU’s faculty members and staff were touched by the principal’s passion on cultural heritage and his mission to pass it on. Local students and their teachers were very interested to know how to pursue undergraduate studies at TCU, and asked numerous questions. Furthermore, they invited TCU’s faculty members and students to come during summer or winter break, to have more interactions with them.

During this trip, TCU’s faculty members and staff worked out many details for setting up TCU’s Education Centers overseas, in order to recruit more international students; moreover, TCU has come up with short-term, mid-term and long-term plans to provide and train Chinese language teachers to meet the needs of overseas education institutions, and by doing so, also enable overseas students to know more about TCU.