KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN – There could be more job opportunities beyond teaching English for emaSwati in Taiwan in the near future.
This follows engagements between His Majesty the King and Taiwan President Lai Ching-te where consideration was put forward to put together a formal agreement that would open doors for more jobs in various sectors.
Speaking to emaSwati students at a dinner hosted by the founder of E-Da World in honour of his visit to Kaohsiung, His Majesty the King said the president, the government and the people of Taiwan were very happy with the character and work ethic of emaSwati and therefore, had a wish to see the locals stay beyond their studies to work in Taiwan for several years before returning home.
“When you live with someone and they keep asking you to prolong your stay, it is an indication that you have been good ambassadors of the country. We commend this because you have laid a good foundation for future generations to benefit from this opportunity,” he said.
Should this consideration become formalised, these jobs would add to the existing bilateral agreement to hire teaching professionals in the country, mainly to teach English as part of the island country’s objective to transform the nation into a bilingual society.
Taiwan’s Bilingual 2030 policy is a national strategic initiative launched to transform the nation into a bilingual society by the year 2030. It has been formulated to elevate national competitiveness and cultivate widespread English proficiency. The programme focuses on optimising learning platforms, modernising school curricula and scaling up English-medium instruction across educational institutions from primary schools to universities.
This national drive has formed the basis of bilateral educational arrangements which have created a demand for international teaching professionals, including educators from Eswatini, to teach in classrooms across the island.
Addressing emaSwati students at a dinner hosted by E-Da World in honour of the King’s visit to Kaohsiung, His Majesty said he looks forward to having an expanded jobs agreement in place, as this would not just provide employment, but valuable skills that would also help the kingdom in her national development objectives.
The King called on the students to use these opportunities well and serve as good ambassadors for the country. He said he was eagerly looking forward to them returning home to share their expertise in the various fields.
He further urged them to remain as one, reminding them that they are, in fact, one family. His Majesty then shared a bit of history about the identity of emaSwati and their roots, reminding them that they were all Dlamini descendants. He said the different surnames we have today were in fact names of people within the clan.
He asked rhetorically if they knew why the Dlamini clan names refer to Dlamini as a people who scaled the length of the Lubombo plateau along the seashore (Wena lowacedza Lubombo ngekuhlehletela). This, he explained, was because they did not want to go inland for fear of getting lost in the forests.
He said the clan had a very productive leader known as Matalatala (Dlamini I) who guided the people through successive migrations across southeastern Africa, adding that the Tembe are also part of the Dlamini family.
There were no more than 30 students this time around, and they also received US$500 from the King, which was gifted to the over 650 students and emaSwati workers in Taipei on Tuesday evening.
They too, broke out in song of jubilation when the accompaniment was made by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Pholile Shakantu.
