Hi there,
We’re considering moving to Taiwan from UK. We have a friend that is currently teaching english in Taipei who has helped with answering a few questions but she is there with her BF and doesnt have any children so cant answer all the types of questions we have regarding our little one. She said there could be the opportunity that he could be schooled at a school that I choose to teach english in ?? Just wanting to know if anyone has heard of this or even if its available to expat english teachers with small children ?? many thanks
Yeah, if you manage to get a job at Taipei American school or European school they can go there for free. And I know TAS’s income is tax free. But those aren’t schools that teach English. They are Schools with American or European curriculum that are taught in English as those kids grow up learning English, a lot of them have better English than mandarin and are Taiwanese.
But teaching English, these are mostly cram schools that only teach English and not normal schools from k-12 grade.
How old are the kids?
Hi and thanks for your reply. My child is two. I think its a no go then ! as i wouldnt be able to afford private and I dont have any formal teaching qualifications. thanks
If you are a couple and both are working then private kindergarten is affordable. We are three people living on one salary and I send my 3 year old to a private kindergarten.
Also if you search around on google you will see other full time schools besides TAS and TES. Some of them have tuition for dependents.
Hi Liam,
Thanks for your reply! Can you tell what age kindergarten goes up to in Taiwan? and is that like an international school ?? or public/state school ? WOW… 3 people !!? from one salary?? Can i ask what it is you do ? surely not just teaching on an english teachers wage ? 
I think elementary starts at age 6. There is public kindergarten but it can be next to impossible to get into it. My son is attending a local private kindergarten in a tiny village in the rural part of New Taipei. 10,000 a month covers all the fees. Its all in Chinese, all locals students. If you had to support a small family on a basic training center 600 an hour job in Taipei, you could do it, but it would not be financially fun. I think you would need either two earners, or one earning more. To get a higher paying job you would need one or more of the following: teacher certification, masters, several years experience, lots of searching online to find the better openings.
Hope that helps.
You need formal teaching qualifications to teach in public schools so that option is out, there are of course private schools but I don’t know if they’d cover tuition for teachers kids.