In 2025, the Department of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) at Hungkuang University, led by Assistant Professor and Personnel Office Director Chao Hui-Ling, guided twelve senior students to complete a six-week overseas internship under Taiwan’s New Southbound Dream-Building Program. The New Southbound Policy emphasizes international exchanges of educational talent. Through this program, the government provides subsidies for university students to study abroad—first, to cultivate Taiwanese students’ understanding of the diverse ethnicities and socio-cultural contexts of Southeast Asian countries, Australia, and New Zealand; and second, to expand educational industry exchanges and technological collaboration.

Since 2011, Hungkuang University’s ECCE Department has collaborated with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in Singapore, enabling Taiwan’s early childhood teacher education qualifications to be recognized by Singapore’s Ministry of Education. This milestone marked the beginning of Taiwan’s early childhood education professionals entering Singapore. Starting in 2011, students from Hungkuang began internships at NTUC’s My First Skool and the renowned Creative O Preschoolers’ Bay. My First Skool is NTUC’s flagship preschool brand, now operating more than 160 centers. Following this collaboration, graduates from Taiwan have pursued careers in Singapore, while many Singaporean preschool chains have actively recruited on Taiwanese campuses. From 2011 to the present, Hungkuang University’s ECCE Department has sent 238 students to intern in Singapore, with more than 70 of them securing employment there.

Assistant Professor Chao Hui-Ling emphasized that preschool education in Singapore universally adopts a bilingual teaching model. Through the New Southbound Dream-Building Program, students learn to integrate multiple languages into daily routines and classroom learning, thereby enhancing children’s language development while making lessons more engaging. Graduates such as Wu Yi-Chieh, who have worked in Singapore for many years, have brought their bilingual teaching experience back to Taiwan’s preschools, achieving remarkable results in experimental bilingual programs. At the same time, due to the recognized professional competence of Taiwanese early childhood educators, the Singapore government in recent years has actively encouraged local preschools to recruit qualified Taiwanese professionals.