Foreign Language Department Website


						Dutch Terminal

The Dutch have had quite a few families living in Taiwan for quite a long time due to the presence of several large companies that are either Dutch or based in part in the Netherlands. Philips, Unilever, Shell, KPMG, ABN/AMRO and AKZO/NOBEL are examples of such companies. There used to be a strong Belgian contingent as well, but recently most Belgian families have moved away from Taiwan.

In the early 1990’s, the largest Dutch firm, Philips Electronics, decided to start its own educational program as an addition to the curriculum of both the American and British schools in Taipei. Gradually, the program grew until its current form, where Dutch is accepted by both schools as a part of the curriculum. In recent years, the number of students that have participated has been typically around forty.

Since 1998, the program has been governed by a board, made up of five members, who form the “Stichting Nedelands Onderwijs in Taipei”, or, “The Foundation for Dutch in Taipei”, a non-profit organization which is supervised and sponsored by the Dutch government.

The main goal of the program is to allow students to continue their Dutch school career on the same grade level that they would have attended in the Netherlands.

Students have the option of taking the following international exams: TBS offers IGCSE, TAS offers IB; in both cases, Dutch can be added to the exam subjects.