At the Cabinet's weekly meeting Thursday, Premier Su Tseng-chang received a briefing by the Ministry of Education on a program to enhance digital learning at elementary through high schools by providing internet access for all classrooms and tablet computers for all students. This program achieves the goal of equal education by prioritizing digital technology access for rural schools, the premier said, enabling children in remote areas to learn at the same speed and glimpse the same world of possibilities as their peers nationwide. In addition, the government will continue to promote other education policies that eliminate urban-rural disparities, such as the installation of air conditioning in all elementary and middle school classrooms and the expansion of centralized kitchen services for elementary and middle schools in rural areas.
High-speed internet has been successfully installed in 100% of the nation's elementary and junior high schools, the premier said, and over 60,000 smart classrooms with large-screen displays have been set up. The government is also providing additional funding of NT$20 billion (US$668.3 million) to continue outfitting classrooms with improved wireless internet and to purchase 610,000 digital learning devices—in particular, providing one tablet computer for every student attending a rural school. These learning devices are expected to arrive in schools by September.
Looking ahead, the government will strengthen training for digital instructors, create more content for digital learning and manage tablet inventory. These efforts will build a comprehensive digital learning environment for Taiwan's children, ease the burden on teachers preparing instruction materials, and promote the development of the digital content industry.
The goal of this policy is to change an entire generation, because there can be no future without talent, the premier said. The government wants children across the nation, regardless of where they are, to be able to learn at the same pace so they can all become citizens of the future.