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【Translator：Siou-Yao Han】

【Promotion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) series】

2023-09-19 On the 18^th, the National University of Kaohsiung(NUK) held the opening ceremony for the "Indigenous Students Resources Center." Beyond increasing support and counseling for Indigenous students, it will serve as a hub for faculty and students to convene. The center will also promote various activities to guide people to understand Indigenous peoples and foster respect for diverse cultures.

NUK‘s President Yueh-Tuan Chen attended the ceremony and joined the students in a joyful dance performance, demonstrating her appreciation and support. She shared that she has collaborated with professors Tsung-Fang Wu and Chih-Hung Wu for nearly a decade in leading the Ministry of Education's "Digit Companions for Learning" project, and the dedication of the team has been recognized by tribal elders. She emphasized that given the opportunity and proper education, Indigenous children can excel just like anyone else.

Yueh-Tuan Chen highlighted that in 2017, NUK established the "Indigenous Students Resources Center." The number of Indigenous students has since grown from 51 to 117. With the growing number of students, the university utilized the summer break to renovate and expand the space, creating a sense of "home," providing support for academic learning and encouraging students to make the most of it.

In the future, the center will actively respond to policies from the Ministry of Education and the Council of Indigenous Peoples, to guide people to understand Indigenous peoples. It will integrate related topics into curriculum and teaching, guiding school faculty and students to understand and respect Indigenous peoples."

Since its establishment, the Indigenous Students Resources Center has been dedicated to Indigenous education, culture, arts, activities, and talent development. This includes expanding the " Masalu Indigenous Day" during the university's anniversary in March 2023, inviting students, faculty, and the public to learn about Indigenous culture, and fostering mutual respect. In June, in collaboration with Shu-Te University, both universities' Indigenous students formed a visiting delegation to the Philippines to observe local efforts in cultural preservation and concurrently promote Taiwan's Indigenous characteristics.

NUK is committed to supporting the employment prospects of Indigenous students and consistently arranges counseling sessions and training courses. For instance, Lawa (Huang Yu-shan), a Tayal graduate from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was admitted to the "Fourth Grade Civil Engineering" last year (2022). Additionally, Hwai-kuan Hsieh, a Paiwan Master's student in the Department of Financial and Economic Law, passed the lawyer's examination in 2021. In May of this year, the university invited Senior Executive Officer Wen-pin Weng from the Ministry of Examination to analyze the key points and subjects of the exams, guiding students to pursue careers in civil service.

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#SDG4 #SDG10 #SDG17