Musical instrument bank launches in Taiwan

2016/04/18

A national musical instrument bank, an innovation by the Ministry of Education, was launched April 12 as part of efforts to ensure students in Taiwan enjoy equal access to music education.

The bank encourages musical instrument-makers, urban schools and the public to donate instruments for use by educational institutions in remote areas. The donated instruments will be refurbished and fitted with radio frequency tracking tags by the music faculty and students at Taipei City-based Shih Chien University, one of the country’s highest-regarded arts departments.

In addition, a mobile repair service will be provided for large instruments unable to be returned to SCU for repair.

During the program launch, MOE Minister Wu Se-hwa said one his goals since taking over the portfolio in 2014 was expanding educational resources for students in remote areas.

“All students are entitled to a full education in Taiwan,” Wu said. “The musical instrument bank helps more students learn music and have a chance to shine on the national or international stage someday.”

Echoing Wu’s remarks, Chang Ming-wen, director-general of the MOE Department of Teacher and Art Education, said the bank is a solid starting point that augurs well for the future. “In the mid to longterm, we will strive to devise a music teacher matching system to meet the needs of our schools and students in remote areas.”

Since the bank started trial operations Dec. 4, 2015, Shih Chien University has received more than 100 musical items such as pianos, a ruan, or Chinese guitar, and wind instruments. Many of these are under repair and will be delivered to schools islandwide.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=243891&ctNode=2194&mp=9)