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(TAIPEI TIMES/ By Rachel Lin and Esme Yeh) The Ministry of Education’s Primary and Secondary School International Educational Exchange Alliance on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture to deepen bilateral education exchanges in sustainability issues and semiconductors.

Local schools have launched semiconductor programs and collaborated with local industries on designing curricula following the establishment of a wafer fab in the prefecture by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

To deepen education exchanges with Taiwan, the Kumamoto Prefectural Board of Education invited the alliance to sign the MOU at the Kumamoto Prefectural Office at the end of last year, the ministry said.

National Tainan Chia-Chi Senior High School principal Chen Yun-ju, right, and Kumamoto Prefectural Board of Education superintendent Hiroki Ooi, left, hold copies of a memorandum of understanding at a ceremony on Monday.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Education

The MOU was signed by National Tainan Chia-Chi Senior High School principal Chen Yun-ju (陳韻如) and board superintendent Hiroki Ooi.

Other attendees included K-12 Education Administration Chief Secretary Huang Ching-yi and Wang Hung-ming (王鴻鳴), an official from the Fukuoka branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Osaka.

Japan is the country with most sister schools in Taiwan, at least 290, showing that both sides have established solid ties as education partners, the ministry said.

Ministry data showed that education exchanges between the two nations are common, with about 450 elementary and secondary schools in Taiwan, or about 25,000 students and teachers from Taiwan, participating in such events in 2024 and last year.

About 200 Taiwanese schools and about 15,000 students engaged in online exchanges with Japanese schools in the two-year period, the data showed.

K-12 Education Administration Director-General Sun Min-yi (孫旻儀) said the prefecture is the fourth Japanese local government — following Chiba, Miyagi and Shizuoka prefectures — to sign an education MOU with the alliance.

The cooperation between the alliance and Kumamoto centers on training international talent, Sun said.

The MOU is aimed at facilitating exchanges and research on semiconductors and sustainable development goals-related environmental issues, especially for senior-high students, she said.

Students are encouraged to conduct international research and collaborations to deepen their learning, and broaden their understanding of the social and cultural contexts of different countries, she said.

More exchange opportunities would be developed, Sun said, adding that Taiwanese schools are encouraged to build sister-school relationships with those in Kumamoto Prefecture to explore diverse collaboration modes.

Her agency would continue to integrate resources and mechanisms for bilateral collaborations to help schools align with global trends, thereby supporting students to cultivate global competence through participation in international exchanges, Sun added.