Around 5,000 international students hoping to come to Taiwan for language study who do not hold the Ministry of Education’s (MOE’s) Huayu Enrichment Scholarship may be allowed to enter the country from next March, the ministry said Wednesday.
With the improving COVID-19 situation in Taiwan, the MOE would submit proposals to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) for their approval that would allow entry for non-scholarship students wishing to study Mandarin in Taiwan for at least six months, Education Minister Pan Wen-chung (???) said.
Following an unprecedented surge in domestic COVID-19 cases earlier this year, Taiwan banned entry of all arrivals bar citizens and legal residents beginning May 19.
International students who have been accepted to higher education institutes for programs lasting a year or more are usually eligible to apply for an Alien Residency Certificate (ARC). As a student can only apply for and obtain an ARC in Taiwan, the current restrictions mainly affect newly enrolled students who are currently still overseas.
Taiwan began to grant entry for international students without an ARC in late August, though only to those enrolled in degree programs at Taiwanese universities or who have received the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Taiwan Scholarship or the MOE’s Huayu Enrichment Scholarship.
Non-scholarship Huayu students are still barred from entering Taiwan, regardless of the length of their program.
Since August, around 13,000 international students have entered Taiwan, Pan said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel
