DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲), joined by fellow DPP Legislators Michelle Lin (林楚茵) and Lin I-chin (林宜瑾), led a delegation to visit Estonia this Wednesday to Friday, where they found much Taiwan could emulate.
The delegation met with the Taiwan-Estonia Parliamentary Friendship Group Chair Kristo Enn Vaga, Parliamentary Member Mario Kadastik, and members of Estonia’s Education and Defense Ministries. They were received in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, by Taiwanese Representative to Latvia Andrew H.C. Lee, and other members of the Latvian Representative office who also led them in their tour.
During a visit to Estonia’s cyber security organization CR14 Foundation, Michelle Lin noted that both Taiwan and Estonia face threats from larger, powerful countries. Estonia’s implementation and monitoring of cyber security policy have received outstanding restule, demonstrating the resilience of the nation, which Michelle Lin noted, Taiwan could study. In the future, both nations should work together to strengthen cooperation in the cybersecurity field.
The delegation also learned about Estonia’s education system, which received great praise from Yun, and Lin I-chin. Yun noted that Estonia invests large amounts into its education system, and schools at all levels have room for autonomy in their education. She also said that the way the country instills digital literacy and internet skills in fun and educational ways, even for preschoolers, was worth emulation in Taiwan. Lin also noted that the government has worked hard to eliminate the phenomenon of “star schools”, and that from primary school to grade nine, students aren’t charged fees for tuition, lunch, or transportation. Mostly likely due to the high respect for teacher autonomy, the students' Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores have increased in recent years. As Estonia is ranked first in Europe in many fields, Taiwan would do well to study its keys to success, and apply them to its own systems back home.