Remember folks that these fora (or forums if you prefer!) help many of us learn new things. I had no idea, for example, that public kindergartens in Taiwan were that difficult to enter. Now I know.
The learning process here extends beyond simply helping the OP–even as we do hope his kid does well.
Peace to all,
Guy
Well said Guy. That was news to me as well.
It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of this (thank you, Forumosa!) but I don’t see why it should be acceptable to discriminate against a tax-paying resident (or permanent resident) with regard to kindergarten applications either. Is there any rational justification for this that I am missing or is it just another case of what I think it is?
Indeed! If it wasn’t for Forumosa I would be in China right now. It was reading through some old threads here that gave me the information that I needed to sort out the paperwork for me and my family to come to Taiwan. I also got some good advice from hsinhai78 when we were going through that. One of my selling points to win my wife over to the idea of life in Taiwan was the high quality, low cost and easy accessibility of public services. Other than this particular school hiccup I think I was right.
I knew kindergartens were harder to get into, but didn’t imagine for a second that it was effectively impossible. The schools we tried to apply to are elementary schools enrolling kindergarten and beginning elementary students. The pecking order was based on disability, aboriginal status, economic disadvantage, age, and finally foreigners at the back of the cue with no reference to age.
As I said before I had no problem with not getting a place. But not getting a fair shot was disappointing, and also a little worrying with regards elementary school in future. I guess the issue will come up again if foreign nationals really are excluded in the current version of the enrollment procedure.
The above is not entirely correct for kindergarten admission, there are some Other important factors. 
There is a video doing the rounds on FB about thus problem. It shows a single Mom running from side to side if the city, picking up her 3 kids in different areas because of the admissions problems and day care affordability. The video states 80 per cent of children cannot access public kindergarten in their area of residence.
Many Taiwanese also don’t get a fair shot either. Icon’s video source says that you are part of 80% of parents with kindergarten aged children.
Whether it’s 5% of 20% the chances are slim.
Who gets priority to kindergartens? Teachers kids and relatives. Kids from families with 3’children. Local residents with property in that area. Probably a couple of others factors. Most have to submit to a lottery and then the places are publically drawn. Luck of the draw in many cases.
The reason for the struggle to get into kindergarten is quite simple: in a public school, you pay 700 NTD or so a month for daily care. In a private kinder, the average monthly fee in Taipei is 20 thousand.
Hence, you have a captive market: people need someone to care for their kids while they work, and the kinder offers care from 8 to 5pm -average work day, with complains from bosses on why you leave early to pick up your kids and that gets women excluded from higher positions unles they have ama to hold the fort, which is why many women send the kids down South to be taken care of while the wives, sometimes even without hubby, work for the slavers in Taipei. In order to keep those higher paid positions in taipei, or at least to hold on to a job, people are willing to pay … though the nose.
Hence, we also have a very low political incentive to change the issue, as the higher ups in the ducation related corridors of power of course have vested, eh, invested inetrests in keeping entrance rates in public kinders low. For them is just an easy issue of tweaking with teh education or municipal budget. Easy peachy.
And hence we get the low birth rates, since if you have two kids when it means 20k per head on childcare per month and you are earning 22k … impossible. 30k? On two salaries, maybe. 40k and up? Plausible. But tight. Consessions are made. Living with the inlaws, for instance. Then add the load of retirement funds, lots of insurance, especially with these cancer rates, and upkeep of the previous generation…plus if they get into the real estate roller coaster, all is lost. And that is whow we have an economy that is going down the toilet while teh numbers show lost of money standing idle and lots of wealth… just not out there circulating, but bloating like cancer.
Hi Liam,
We will be in Taipei in Nov with one of our children at the age to start elementary school so I am very interested to hear what happened - did you finally manage to register your child?
Cheers
Agnes
You should have no problems registering your child (elementary) once you establish residency. The parents on the board will know more about how soon you can get them into schools but Liam’s issue is with kindergarten (a 3 year program like a combined preschool and kindergarten program from the states). Taiwan doesn’t fully fund public kindergartens for all students and there are only enough spaces for a small amount (did someone say 20%?) of students.
It would be best to change the title of this thread which is very misleading to newbies, there are no new regulations which exclude foreigners from public schools in Taiwan.
Indeed
Yes, change the thread. I have no less than 4 children in Taiwan schools - 2 of them left Taiwan later though.
Getting in was not an issue, apart from junior high, where my former wife screwed up.
So the title should be:
Getting your kids into public kindergarten in Taiwan is Mission Impossible?
It is hard to get kids in public kindergarten both for locals and foreigners
Cheap kindergarten? In your dreams!
i’m so sorry! i didn’t realise there are more pages to the thread. thanks for the clarifications…
Hi Agnes,
Just saw your post. Actually we did not get any chance to enter the lottery for a public place. However we did find what seems to be an ok and cheap private kindergarten in a little community in the hills near where we live. If you want the details of the school just pm me.
To the OP and fellow stubborn Irishman.
Please change thread title to something more reasonable.
I honestly don’t know how to change it. Maybe a moderator could change the word “schools” to “kindergartens” in the title? [quote=“headhonchoII”]To the OP and fellow stubborn Irishman.
Please change thread title to something more reasonable.[/quote]
The title that icon suggested also sounds fine to me