Taiwan is working to lower its student-to-teacher ratio in preschools to provide a better education for children. That was the word from Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) on Tuesday, which is also celebrated as Children’s Day in Taiwan.
Chen says lowering the preschool classroom ratio to one teacher for every twelve students will improve educational outcomes. The current ratio is one teacher for every 15 students. The government is offering a cash reward to schools which already have a 12:1 ratio, and will offer subsidies to private and quasi-private preschools aiming to reach this goal.
The Education Ministry says public preschools will need to work on achieving this lower ratio starting in August. The government says it will provide more subsidies to parents if the cost of tuition rises due to hiring more teachers.
In the past few years, Taiwan’s government has been promoting policies to relieve the financial burden of raising children, such as providing more affordable childcare services and offering subsidies to parents. Taiwan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, and these policies aim to encourage more people to have children. The government hopes this will offset the challenges of becoming a super-aged society in the future.