The Ministry of Education plans to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into elementary and middle-school curricula, with the goal of positioning Taiwan as a leader in AI education in Asia within two years, according to Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng. Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao and his team are committed to advancing AI education, and a significant milestone has been achieved through the establishment of the Taiwan AI College Alliance, aimed at enhancing AI education at the university level, Yeh added.
High schools will also begin offering AI courses, while elementary and junior high schools are set to introduce generative AI learning partners and organize AI competitions, Yeh said. The ministry has enlisted the expertise of Tsai Yun-cheng, an associate professor in National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Technology Application and Human Resource Development, and Chang Jie-fan, an assistant professor at National Taiwan University’s Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, to develop a variety of elective AI courses for high school students.
Yeh thanked Tsai and Chang for developing an online system to review students’ program codes and enhance distance learning, saying that they helped provide equal learning opportunities for high school and vocational school students nationwide. Twenty-three high and vocational schools are participating in the program to offer elective AI courses this semester, including two from remote areas, he said.
The ministry has also partnered with Su Wen-yu, a professor in National Cheng Kung University’s Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, to launch an AI competition for elementary and junior high school students starting this year, Yeh added.
The competition encourages students to use AI models to tackle real-world challenges and is expected to grow into an international online event, Yeh said. Additionally, an AI learning partner was launched on the ministry’s website this month to help bridge the educational divide between urban and rural areas. Last month, the ministry also introduced its Digital Teaching Guidelines 3.0, aimed at involving both principals and parents more actively in students' digital learning, he added.
