Parents call for Taiwanese-language school in every city and county
Parents call for Taiwanese-language school in every city and county
2025-09-19
Taiwanese, is the most commonly spoken language in Taiwan besides Mandarin. But in the entire country, there’s only one Taiwanese-language school: Beiling Elementary in Kaohsiung, which officially opened this semester. Many parents in the north try their hardest to pass on Taiwanese to their kids at home, but they can’t find a school to send them to, leaving self-study as the only option. A group of parents recently got together to call for the establishment of a Taiwanese experimental school in every city and county.
Children in tow, these parents are making a request of their local governments. Although they usually speak Taiwanese at home, those living in the north can’t find a Taiwanese-language school to send their kids to. Only Kaohsiung offers such a place.
In class, the teacher only speaks Taiwanese, and the students have no problem following along. This is Beiling Elementary in Kaohsiung, which was officially designated this semester as a Taiwanese experimental school. Even though Taiwanese, is Taiwan’s most-spoken local language, there’s only one Taiwanese-language school in the entire country. Parents don’t think it’s enough.
Parent
Wants more Taiwanese schools
The government right now is promoting use of Taiwanese in the home, encouraging parents and grandparents to speak it with children. But once they start elementary school, they start learning Zhuyin and reading Mandarin. What happened to Taiwanese? I’m telling Taoyuan Mayor Simon Chang: I want a Taiwanese-language school!
According to government data, 66% of people aged 65 and older speak Taiwanese, compared to only 7.4% of those aged 6 to 14. This stark generational gap has left many parents conscious of preserving Taiwanese, but with little recourse.
Ho Meng-hua
Taipei City Councilor
We know that children living in cities have fewer and fewer chances to speak Taiwanese. So this is important to the Taipei City Government. We will do our best to promote it in the city council.
Hsueh Han-chun
Tai-gi-loo Association PR director
Northern municipalities get more resources than those in the south. We believe they have an obligation to provide Taiwanese-language schools.
Despite the abundance of speakers, Taiwan only has one school dedicated to Taiwanese. But there are three experimental schools for Hakka, and 36 for Indigenous languages, all of which have fewer speakers. These parents hope local governments will hear their demands and help to pass on the language to future generations.
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被邊緣化? 北部嘸"台語學校" 家長籲:阮嘛欲有
2025-09-19
台灣最廣泛的本土語言就是台語，但全台只有一間"台語實驗學校"，位在高雄市的北嶺國小，這學期正式掛牌。但北部地區不少家長，在家中積極傳承台語，卻遍尋不著台語學校，只好選擇自學。家長團體一同出面喊話個地方政府，希望設立台語實驗學校。
家長帶著小朋友，向各縣市政府喊話，因為平常都講台語，但生活在北部卻遍尋不著一間台語學校能夠就讀，反觀南部的高雄市。
數學課，老師全程用台語，台下學生也完全沒有問題，高雄市北嶺國小，這學期正式掛牌成為「台語實驗小學」，只是台語身為國內最大本土語言，台語學校卻只有一間，家長們似乎認為有點不足。
[[家長]]
“現在政府有推動台語家庭的計畫，有鼓勵父母、阿公、阿媽，在家裡要和小朋友說台語，但是孩子上小學之後，就要學注音、看華文，這樣台語到底去哪裡了?他要我向張善政說，我想要有台語學校。”
畢竟看看行政院主計總處統計， 65歲以上台語使用達到66%，但反觀6到14歲只剩下7.4%，明顯呈現跨世代萎縮，讓不少有台語傳承意識的家長，無力翻轉現況。
[[台北市議員 何孟樺]]
“我們都知道其實在都會區的孩子，可以說台語的環境是越來越少的，所以這對台北市來說是很重要的，我們會努力在台北市議會台推動。”
[[台灣台語路協公關部長 薛翰俊]]
“這裡的縣市(北部)拿到的資源，也都是比南部縣市還多，我們認為北部有義務也來辦台語學校。”
雖說台語是最大本土語言，但現階段台語學校只有一間，而客語實驗學校全台有三間，原住民語則有36間，就盼政府能聽見家長聲音，讓本土語言一代代傳承。
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