Ministry of Education Pilots Local Mentorship Network for Teacher Interns at 3 Universities

(Taipei, June 15, reporter Hsu Chi-wei) To improve the quality of teaching practicum, the Ministry of Education has selected three teacher-training universities—National Taiwan Normal University, National Taichung University of Education, and National University of Tainan—to pilot a new initiative establishing them as 'Teaching Practicum Mentorship Centers.' These centers will build localized mentorship networks to provide student teachers with immediate guidance, support, and answers to their questions.

In a press release today, the Ministry noted that student teachers often face various challenges in classroom instruction and class management when entering teaching environments for the first time. However, due to cross-district internships—where the internship site is in a different county or city from their university—and the fact that university-appointed supervisors can only visit at the beginning and end of the term, student teachers frequently face time and space constraints that prevent them from receiving timely professional support.

To address this, the Ministry launched the 'Pilot Program for Strengthening Local Mentorship Networks in Teaching Practicum' in 2025 (academic year 114), selecting the three universities to serve as regional mentorship hubs in northern, central, and southern Taiwan. This initiative aims to break geographical barriers and offer immediate, localized support to student teachers.

The Teaching Practicum Mentorship Centers will integrate teacher-training universities, internship institutions, local education guidance teams, and student teachers. They will organize diverse capacity-building activities such as micro-teaching, lesson observation and discussion, and mock teacher recruitment interviews. This transforms the previous one-off university visits into continuous, sustained mentorship. The pilot program was officially incorporated into the 'Ministry of Education Guidelines for Subsidizing Teacher-Training Universities to Implement Teaching Practicum Mentorship' on June 10, 2024, further strengthening the localized support network.

To encourage collaboration between teacher-training universities and internship institutions, the Ministry offers up to NT$100,000 in subsidies for each partnership. These funds can be used for training mentor teachers, organizing subject-specific teaching methodology workshops and teaching demonstrations for interns, and covering reduced teaching loads for mentor teachers—providing tangible support to frontline educators.

The Ministry emphasized that the 'local mentorship network for teaching practicum' not only enhances timeliness and expertise in support but also overcomes spatial and frequency limitations. When student teachers face teaching challenges, high-quality local experts can offer immediate assistance. Additionally, the initiative fosters a two-way supportive community among interns in the same region, helping to alleviate anxiety for those entering the teaching field. (Edited by Li Shu-hua) 1150615