School for migrant workers sharpens skills and changes lives
School for migrant workers sharpens skills and changes lives
2024-03-10
Taiwan is home to more than 750,000 foreign workers, who are indispensable to the fishing, manufacturing, and caregiving industries. But many workers face frequent conflicts with their employers due to cultural and language barriers. To address this challenge, an NGO called One-Forty has launched a school for migrant workers. The school offers Chinese lessons and on-the-job training, to help workers adapt to a life in Taiwan. It also teaches secondary skills like entrepreneurship, to make the workers even more employable. Our Sunday special report.
Weaving through the market, this shopper picks out ingredients for lunch, stopping every so often for a chat.
This is Tiny [Read: Teeny], who hails from Indonesia. She arrived in Taiwan in 2009 and now works as a caregiver in New Taipei.
Tiny is close with her employer Tsai Mao-yueh, whom she calls Dad. Besides managing his everyday needs, she loves to cook up a storm.
She can whip up everything from Taiwanese and Thai cuisines to authentic Indonesian delicacies. But when she first arrived in Taiwan, the language barrier made it hard just to buy groceries.
Tiny
Indonesian worker
One time I went with Grandma to the vegetable market. I saw a box of tomatoes and wanted to ask the boss how much it was. The boss completely ignored me because my pronunciation was off. Grandma sat in her wheelchair and she couldn’t speak any Chinese, only Taiwanese. So I had no way of communicating with Grandma. So in the end I just put the tomatoes down and left.
For migrant workers in Taiwan, language and cultural barriers are common challenges. Indonesian workers arrive with 600 hours of language and professional training under their belt. But that training doesn’t always prepare them for everyday conversations in Chinese.
Chen Cheng-fen
Professor of long-term care studies
It’s like how Taiwanese people take the TOEFL before going to the U.S. Even if you’ve made very thorough preparations, when you’re living in a foreign place, you do still discover a gap between what you learned and the language you need for everyday life.
Kimyung Keng
Politics professor
I think that in Taiwan today, there are several NGOs that are doing great work. We have many social organizations that encourage Indonesian workers to continue classes after they arrive in Taiwan, to continue learning. For example, there’s the 1095 workshop in Taichung, and the One-Forty organization in Taipei. There’s also the Global Workers’ Organization, Taiwan. These groups hold a great deal of classes that enable Indonesian workers to continue their education on weekends, after they arrive in Taiwan.
In 2019, Tiny saw a YouTube ad for a school for migrant workers, run by the One-Forty non-profit. She was intrigued by the prospect of free tuition and lessons taught entirely in Indonesian. She told her employer that she wanted to enroll.
Tiny
Indonesian worker
I told Dad, “I want to go to class. I want to go to One-Forty.” He asked when registration opened. I said Sunday. Then Dad took me to One-Forty to register for Chinese class.
Tsai Mao-yueh
Employer
They are a disadvantaged group. It is because they are disadvantaged that they left their hometowns to work In Taiwan. She is a very motivated person, and of course I fully support her. I consider her part of the family, and I want her to make advances in life.
Tiny’s school serves migrant workers, and it works around their holiday schedule. Classes are held just once a month near Taipei Main Station. The lessons are tailored to the needs of students. Today’s lesson, for instance, is on how to order bubble tea.
Nana
Indonesian worker
Before I couldn’t speak at all. Now I’m taking classes regularly. What they taught me today, later I will go and try it out.
Endang
Indonesian worker
I can communicate with my boss and I can talk to friends, to other Taiwanese people. My speech has become more clear and more correct.
Practical language lessons help foreign workers adapt more quickly to life in Taiwan. Tiny has attended class for four years now. She says she’s become a veritable shopping expert.
Tiny
Indonesian worker
I’m really great at shopping now. Hitting the vegetable markets is a cinch. When there’s a buy-one-get-one free promotion, I’m on it right away. I know it’s buy-one-get-one free, and that I’ve got to hurry and buy.
Taiwan opened to migrant labor 30 years ago, and is currently home to more than 750,000 workers. According to a 2022 labor ministry survey, more than 40% of employers have experienced conflict with employees due to language barriers.
Kevin Chen
One-Forty founder
Every migrant worker I’ve interviewed has told me that they faced a huge language barrier after arriving in Taiwan. Some couldn’t speak Chinese well, and others couldn’t use Taiwanese to communicate with older grandparents they looked after. A school for migrant workers helps every migrant worker improve their life in Taiwan, to improve their language and communication skills. At the same time, they improve their work performance, too.
Besides teaching Chinese, One-Forty launched a new skills course for caregivers in 2023, to provide on-the-job training. On this Sunday afternoon, dementia care is the focus. All the students are caregivers who work firsthand with dementia patients.
Chen Cheng-fen
Professor of long-term care studies
For both Taiwanese caregivers and social workers, professional education is divided into pre-job and on-the-job training. Unfortunately, foreign caregivers in the family setting don’t get to have on-the-job training. So after they enter a family, they have no one to turn to if they have problems. There’s no team that they can consult.
Huang Yu-ting
Dementia workshop director
What results from this is that, for Taiwanese families, the quality of dementia care perhaps isn’t so good. Migrant workers might feel frustrated, as they feel they can’t do a good job. So we partnered with a professional medical team – Taipei City Hospital’s dementia care center – to provide basic training in dementia care.
Language and skills training can ease the friction between migrant workers and their employers. But only a minority of workers can get permission from employers to attend class, either alone or with their charges.
Kevin Chen
One-Forty founder
Lots of migrant workers message us and ask, “When will you have classrooms across Taiwan?” They want to come to class, because they really want to learn, but they live too far away. Some caregivers say they only get one day off every month, and they can’t go to class in Taipei but they really want to. So later on we thought, if they can’t make it to our classrooms, we can take our class materials to them. So we started sending out lessons in the mail.
One-Forty sends course materials directly to homes. It also provides online lessons. In 2022, more than 1,200 migrant workers signed up for distance learning. Even without signing up, workers can still access more than 300 online videos and learn right at home. In April 2022, the labor ministry launched a talent retention program for migrant workers. Drawing on the experience of non-profits, the ministry now offers its own online courses.
Su Yu-kuo
Labor ministry’s Workforce Development Agency official
Actually these migrant workers are quite young. They are extremely tech savvy and good at the internet. Due to the nature of their work, they very much welcome online learning, which isn’t restricted to a given time or location.
Through continuing education, the Ministry of Labor hopes to retain migrant workers to stem the national labor shortage. But for the One-Forty non-profit, another goal is to equip migrant workers with secondary skills, which they can use should they choose to go home. The NGO recently launched courses in computer skills and entrepreneurship, to make students more employable in their home countries.
Kevin Chen
One-Forty founder
Every year, more than 100,000 migrant workers go back to Southeast Asia after working in Taiwan. When they go back, they tell people: “Taiwan is a fantastic place” and “When I was in Taiwan, people really helped me out.” They encourage more people to come to Taiwan. That’s the way to make Taiwan a more attractive destination for workers as our society continues to age and industries start to need more labor.
Amid the global race for talent, Taiwan must make itself a great place to live and work. Only then is there a chance at retaining foreign labor, to power industrial growth and to keep Taiwan’s old-age care system afloat.
For more Taiwan news, tune in:
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我是移工 我想上學！
2024-03-10
目前在漁業、產業，和協助居家照護工作的外籍移工，總人數已破75萬，已經成為台灣社會不可或缺的一份子。然而，仍然有許多移工因為難以克服的語言和文化落差，導致跟雇主間的衝突頻繁發生；而結束在台灣長達10幾年的工作，返國之後，往往也面臨「壯年失業」危機。於是，在台灣有一所綜合型的移工學校開張了，不論是語言、在職訓練，甚至是發展第二專長需求，在這裡都可以獲得滿足。但為什麼要為異鄉人做這些事？成效又如何呢？
熟練地穿梭菜市場，挑選午餐要用的食材，時不時還能跟老闆們聊上兩句。
她是來自印尼的Tiny，從2009年開始來到台灣工作，目前在新北市的蔡茂岳家中擔任家庭照護工。
Tiny和雇主的感情緊密，平常都稱雇主為「爸爸」，除了負責照料雇主的生活起居，Tiny也很喜歡下廚。
不論台式、泰式，還是正宗印尼料理，統統難不倒Tiny，但其實她剛來到台灣的時候，因為語言不通，連自己到市場買菜都做不到。
[[印尼籍移工 Tiny]]
“那時候我帶阿嬤去菜市場，我看到一盒番茄，我想問老闆，這個多少錢，老闆都不理我，是我發音不標準，阿嬤在輪椅上，她也不會講國語，她只會講台語，所以我沒有辦法跟阿嬤溝通，最後番茄放下，我默默離開”
語言與文化差異所造成的隔閡，在來台移工身上並不少見，以印尼籍的移工為例，來台之前，雖然每個人都必須接受600個小時的語言和職能訓練，但訓練內容不見得實用，許多移工到了台灣，依然無法以中文進行日常對話。
[[台北護理大學長期照護系教授 陳正芬]]
“就像我們在台灣準備去美國的托福考試等等，你就算語言準備得很充分，但其實你到異地生活的時候，你還是會有遇到，你所學的語言跟實際上，照顧上的語言的落差”
[[淡江大學全球政治經濟學系助理教授 何景榮]]
“我覺得現在我們台灣，有一些NGO社會團體做的東西非常不錯，我們非常多這樣的社會團體，鼓勵印尼移工來台灣之後，再來上課，再來學習，比如說台中的1095文史工作室，台北的One-Forty，還有像外籍勞動者工作協會，他們都會辦很多的課程，讓印尼移工來到台灣之後，利用假日去進修”
2019年，Tiny在YouTube上搜尋中文學習影片，無意見看到，非營利組織One-Forty開辦的「移工學校」的招生廣告，不只學費全免，還會用印尼語教學，Tiny主動向雇主說自己想報名。
[[印尼籍移工 Tiny]]
“我說爸爸，我想去上課，去One-Forty，他說什麼時候有報名，我說禮拜天，爸爸就帶我去One-Forty報名學中文”
[[雇主 蔡茂岳]]
“她們都是弱勢，弱勢才會離鄉背井來台灣當移工，她很上進，我當然非常支持，我就把她當成家人，也希望她有長進”
Tiny所報名的這所移工學校，配合多數移工的放假時間，每個月只有一個周日，會在台北車站附近的教室開課，課程內容為移工們量身打造，像今天上課的主題，就是如何點一杯自己想喝的手搖飲料。
[[印尼籍移工 Nana]]
“我以前都不會講，現在有定期上課，他們教我的，等一下出去可以試試看”
[[印尼籍移工 Endang]]
“我可以跟老闆溝通，可以跟朋友說話，跟其他的台灣人，說話有清楚一點，有一點標準”
貼近生活的課文，讓移工們快速融入台灣社會，已經連續四年參加中文課的Tiny，笑著說，自己現在已經是購物達人。
[[印尼籍移工 Tiny]]
“我現在都很會買東西啊，去菜市場都可以，有時候買一送一，我都知道，這個買一送一，趕快買”
台灣引進外籍移工30年，全台移工人數超過75萬，但根據勞動部2022年的調查，依然有超過4成的雇主表示，因為語言不通和移工發生摩擦。
[[陳凱翔 One-Forty創辦人]]
“我訪問過的所有移工都會跟我講，他們剛到台灣面臨到很大的，語言不通的困難，不管是說中文也好，或者是可能他照顧的阿公、阿嬤是說台語，如果有機會有一個「移工學校」，能夠幫助每一個移工，他到台灣以後有更好的生活，有更好的語言溝通，其實相對的，他其實在工作上的成效，都會做得更好”
除了中文課，這所「移工學校」，2023年也新開加強照護技巧的「在職訓練班」，10月中旬的周日下午，失智症照護工作坊在台北登場，台下坐著的都是在第一線，直接面對失智症患者的家庭照護移工。
[[台北護理大學長期照護系教授 陳正芬]]
“台灣的本國籍照服員，或者是我們社會工作師的教育訓練，專業訓練都有一樣的概念，我們會分成職前訓練跟在職教育訓練。家庭內的外籍看護工，最可惜的是他缺乏在職教育訓練，也就是他進入家戶之後，他遇到任何問題，也沒有人可以問，也沒有一個團隊可以諮詢”
[[失智症工作坊專案負責人 黃妤婷]]
“這樣會帶來的結果就是，對台灣家庭來說，失智症者的照護品質，可能沒有辦法那麼好，對移工來說，他可能很挫折，沒有辦法做好工作，所以我們跟專業的醫療團隊，聯合醫院的失智症中心(合作)，去做失智症照護最基本面的教學”
移工接受語言，在職訓練課程，對雇主和移工來說是雙贏局面，但事實上，能獲得雇主同意，帶著受照護對象出門或是獨自外出，到「移工學校」上課的移工，其實仍是少數。
[[One-Forty創辦人 陳凱翔]]
“我們會收到很多移工，傳訊息給我們，他們都會問我們說，什麼時候可以全台灣各縣市都可以有移工的教室，他希望來上課，因為很想要來上課，但是家裡面住得太遠，或者是有一些看護會說，其實他一個月才放一天的時間，他沒有辦法來上課，但是他很想來上。所以我們後來就想說，如果他們沒有辦法實際的地到教室裡面，我們其實可以把我們的教材送進他們的家裡面，所以後來我們開始有了一個，教材的寄送計畫”
「移工學校」將教材宅配到府，搭配數位化的教學課程，2022年吸引1200多位
移工註冊報名，沒有報名的移工，也可以點閱超過300支線上影片，在家自學。2022年4月，勞動部開始推動移工「留才久用」方案，也吸收了NGO推動移工教育的經驗，大量開設數位學習課程。
[[勞動部勞動力發展署跨國勞動力管理組組長 蘇裕國]]
“這些移工其實他年紀也滿輕的，他們在使用網路這些科技是非常良好的，再加上他們工作的性質，可以隨時隨地，不要受到時間，或者是空間限制的數位學習，的確是受到他們歡迎的”
勞動部希望能留下移工，補充台灣欠缺的勞動力，「移工學校」則希望，即便移工未來想要返國發展，也能具備足夠營生的第二專長，近年開設電腦課，創業課，希望幫助移工們，至少能在回國後順利銜接下一份工作。
[[One-Forty創辦人 陳凱翔]]
“每一年其實都有超過十萬位的移工，結束在台灣的工作回到東南亞，他們回去會告訴更多人說，台灣是一個很棒的地方，我曾經受到台灣的幫助，我也鼓勵更多人可以來到台灣，對於台灣未來有更高的長照需求，企業的各個產業，有更多需求的時候，其實台灣才會是持續，有更多人想要來到的地方”
在全球缺工，搶工的局勢下，只有提供更好的環境和更多元的配套措施，才有機會幫台灣，將這群認真打拚的異鄉人留下來，促進長照家庭，各級產業，都能繼續順利運轉。
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