Can forigners register thier kids at public school

Taiwan Parenting
#1

Hi there,

I have three kids thier ages are 12,9,7 , they all have American Passport and Taiwanese Passport. But they don't have residency in Taiwan, they have never been there , they speak Chinese fluently. I would like to go Taiwan and register them at public school, but I don't know if it is possible to do so or not. I also wonder what the curriculum look like at the public school? What kind of subjects do they teach? And do forigners or those who don't have Hu Kou there have to pay Zheng Zhu fei to register at public school? My kids and me have no Hu kou there in Taiwan, cause we are overseas Taiwanese. Thanks ! and if anyone have any information , I would appreciated.   :laughing:  :slight_smile:
#2

You’ll just need a housing registry paper I guess. I don’t see any problem.

#3

I never would have thought so until I met an all caucasian, foreigner family with their kid in a local school. If they can do it, then overseas Chinese sans hu kou can definitely do it.

#4

I think there are about a dozen Lotus Hill foreign kids who go to the elementary school down the street from Lotus Hill.

#5

Thank you all for your wonderful reply, but what is a housing registry paper, my mom in law owns a house there in Taipie. But we are not going to live with her at the same house, we might rent an apartment near a school where the kids will attend in the future.

#6

I’m sure your rental receipt will be enough to get your kids in school. If your here legally, your kid’s have to go to school. Thats the law.
None of my co-worker’s (both parents lao wei) had any problem getting their kid’s into school.
My son goes to Kindergarten, so he is not at that age yet, but I don’t see where the problem is.
You might have to ask your landlord to put you on the registration, but that’s not a big deal here.
Hell, our household registration has about 30 people on it. People I have no idea who they are.
Why, because we live in a neighborhood with a “good school”, and all of the in-laws friends what to send their kid’s there.

#7

Thanks for your reply, but how much is the tuition fee for the public school? and what other fees does the school require? what about Hu Kou? since we are new commer to Taiwan, we don’t have local Hu Kou, we must wait for a year to get it, without Hu Kou does the public school there accept children. I heard in China without a local Hu Kou kids can’t attend public school, they must go to private school, and if they want to attend public they must pay a one time fee called( zhan zhu fei) which is very expensive, that lots of parents can’t afford to pay it. In China migrant workers tend to travel from thier village to big cities like Beijing and Shanghai for work, they don’t have Hu kou in those big cities, thier Hu Kou is registered in the village or hometown where they came from. So public schools in those big cities don’t accept thier children cause they don’t have local Hu Kou, and they ended up sending thier kids to private schools, so most people in private schools are mostly from rural area and migrant workers with low monthly wages, the education in Public school in China is a way better than private schools,they have high standard and quality of education, while the private schools lag behind. I don’t know about schools in Taiwan, can people thier without local Hu Kou register thier kids at any public school? let’s say someone from Taipie moved to TaiZhong, can thier kids attend the public schools there without waiting for a six month perios of time. When my husband called the department of Education in Taipie, they told him our kids can’t attend public schools till after six months, cause they don’t have lcoal Hu kou. I don’t want to leave my kids at home for six month waiting for thier Hu Kou to be issured, what if thier Hu Kou took longer time , am I going to leave them at home forever waiting for thier HU Kou? Please I need help with that. Thanks!

#8

I’m not sure what you mean by Ho Kou, but if you are referring to household registration, I am sure your landlord of the place you are renting can list your children on his or hers registration.
It is done all of the time here. For renters, and also for people that want to send their kids to a different school that in the district where they live. Which is why we have about 30 people listed on our registration.
There is no tuition for the public schools.

How will the kids be entering the country, on a JFRV ?
If sounds like the one year wait is to discourage people from doing what I have stated above. Listing yourself on someone else’s registration.
If you show the school the JFRV and also the kid’s foreign passport, I am quite sure they will not question the 1 year part.
No lao wei that I know of has had any problem getting their kids into public school immediately .

#9

Thanks Bob so much for your help, it was very helpful.

#10

assini, I should add that my experince in this is in Taidong County. It may be different up north.

Hell, if worse comes to worse, you may have to come down our way.
Not that that is bad, clean air, cheap rents, and your kids will defintely be safe here.
That’s why I no longer live in USA.

#11

We used to live in US before , but now we are living in Saudi Arabia, my husband is in China , we like to join him there , but first we must go to Taiwan to apply for the Tai Bao Zheng and then we can go and live in China. How cheap is the rent there in the county where you live? How much is 2 bedroom apartment ? It doesn’t mind where we move , we are just going to stay for a year or two until we get our ID card , Hu Kou, and Tai Bao Zheng. I need some public school phone number? can you provide me with that? I like to call them a head of time to know what’s the school requirment for overseas student, my kids can speak Chinese perfectly, they also speak English , and Arabic. Thanks for your help :laughing:

#12

Assini, I will PM (Private Message) you with info on Taitung.