Taiwan Adventist Academy and Taiwan Adventist International School were visited by the evaluation teams sent by the Northern Asia-Pacific Division Commission on Accreditation from March 4 to 7, 2013. Both schools are located in the Yu-Chih, Nantou County, Taiwan.
Taiwan Adventist Academy, a government-registered school, with Mandarin as the medium of instruction, has 363 students. It was started in 1952 together with the Taiwan Bible College (the present Taiwan Adventist College). It moved to the present site at Yu-Chih together with the College in August 1980 and only in 2001,
February, the Nantou Education Authority permitted it to be an experimental school, separate from the College. In June, 2006, it was finally recognized as an official Taiwanese high school. Although student enrollment does not reach the minimum requirements of the government, in March this year, the Taiwan Education Department ranked it as one of the schools of excellence.
Taiwan Adventist International School (TAIS) was started as an extension of the work of Taipei Adventist Preparatory Academy (TAPA) in Taipei. Initially, its focus was to have boarding facilities to cater for an international Grades 1-12 program targeting children of Adventist parents in Nantou and Taichung. However, the costs of running such a program proved untenable. Eventually, TAIS offered only Grades 7 through 12.
The special aid given as an incentive for Adventist parents to send their children had to be cut significantly, thus resulting in the reduction of students from Adventist homes. At present, it has only 52 students although the financial situation is very much better than before.
These two schools need the prayers of our church for them to fulfill their goals as Adventist schools in Taiwan. The commitment of the administration, faculty and staff to provide an Adventist education is admirable.