kindergarten is 2 to 6 now.
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We’re talking about academic subjects here. I’m sure they’re allowed to teach them to use the toilet, but preschools aren’t staffed by teachers. They are just caretakers.
(Edit: And BTW, I know you didn’t mean “use the toilet” when you said “dropping shapes into the bucket”. 
)
Cool.
So, you’re registered as a cram school (buxiban), but you’re open all day and you teach English to children who are ages 3-6 (pre-elementary school)? But, if you were registered as a kindergarten you couldn’t legally do this? So, it’s all about the license and name and not the ages of the children or what you actually do that matter?
I’ve always heard that that was not legal. And as a foreigner, you’re going to need permanent residence status or JFRV (Taiwanese spouse), or possibly a gold card to make this happen, right?
How would a fresh off the boat, day 1 in Taiwan foreigner accomplish this if this is in fact what @Bilinguistas has in mind.
Way back in my day you had to sell your soul to a greedy Taiwanese buxiban owner for five years until able to qualify for permanent residence with open work-rights unless of course you had a Taiwanese spouse.
You just couldn’t step off a plane as a single person on a visitor visa and set up any type of self-employment because you wanted to. It was a long arduous journey for most. Nowadays there are still the original ways to get there, but now there are the Gold Card and opening a Rep office that are two other ways and there might be more that I’m unaware of.
Then again, with the Internet as it is today, @Bilinguistas might want to provide services into Taiwan remotely and there are also other regulations and steps to take.
I’ve heard it said for 24 years, “It’s illegal for foreigners or Taiwanese alike to teach English in a kindergarten”.
In fact, right now I’ve got a Taiwanese friend who teaches English in a privately owned, registered as a kindergarten, “school”. I asked her if it was legal and she told me, “No, way!” She has been instructed to switch to anything other than English if inspectors ever show up. She’s actually gotten calls early in the mornings that classes are cancelled because a pop inspection was taking place. She had cancelled classes one time when the school had to put in a fake wall before a scheduled inspection to hide the fact that their license didn’t cover a second floor and that they were way over their legal capacity for children.
So, if my friend’s school was not registered as a kindergarten and instead registered as a cram school (buxiban), everything would be legal? Even though the same services of a kindergarten is still being provided? Could the “not really a kindergarten” cram school now be authorized to provide work-permits to foreigners to teach English?
I appreciate any and all responses from any of our esteemed members as this subject crops up every few years and gets argued back and forth with no clear answers as far as I can remember.
So, today, what are the laws, rules and regulations that cover English instruction and/or bilingual education in government kindergartens, private kindergartens, cram schools (buxibans) and the ages of the students receiving the English language teaching?
Peace
laws and regulations are changing. you always need to check the current ones. many old information was correct when it was posted, but not so now.
technically, i think teaching subjects to babies at cram schools is not prohibited, but if they provide services to take care of them in addiction to teaching, they need other qualifications for the addictional services.
so, if the class is for babies with parents, they can teach any subjects, maybe.
i’m not very sure so searched some information, but didn’t get definitive one.
This is already the case. In first grade it is expected that children know basic math and can read at least with bopomo. Teachers will just go on with their curriculum. Taiwanese parents know that. Hence there is a lot of pressure on kindy’s to teach that.
Students who are lacking in first grade need to be additionally home schooled or go to buxibans after school.
There is much higher pressure on parents than on teachers that kids are up to speed.
My wife’s sister is a public school teacher. So we know how much the kids need to know at what stage. It is rarely enough to just let the child learn at school. And with each grade the expectations are quickly growing.
This disparity between reality and what is written in the law is insane, just like the rat race in Taiwanese schools.
Yeah I think they teach bopomofo in kindergartens, right? Just can’t start teaching reading (words and sentences) yet until first grade?
Wow, so young. So what is the new preschool age? 1? It used to be 2.
for some reason, they combined preschool and kindergarten. they call the combined school preschool in laws.
Nursery is for 0 to 2. babies who become 2 in the middle of a school year can still be in the nursary for upto 1 year, till they move to preschool next school year.
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That’s the key. But how did they get her a work permit for the kindergarten? Did she actually meet the standards of the kindergarten law (Early Education Act or whatever it’s called)?
The laws are changing to allow for more English to be taught. I looked into starting a Kindy but, seriously, forget about it. The building regulation alone will put an end to that plan.
I’ve always been told that the difference between a Kindy and a buxiban was that a Kindy feed the children and let them nap. This too might be falling by the wayside.
Honestly, it’s a competitive market. Parents have a choice between free childcare or spending thousands each month to learn English. Many school make good money but I think they serve upper-upper class.
Also… It might be possible to get a gold card by investing $500,000 into a school.
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if you are thinking on business, you may want to check the actual laws by yourself. many of laws are linked to english versions, though they might not be the latest version. each local gevernment has their regulations on cram schools, in addition to nation wide rules.
kindergartens
https://www.ece.moe.edu.tw/ch/law/
cram achools, taipei
https://www.doe.gov.taipei/News.aspx?n=4E0366B861140A55&sms=69B4E6B26379EE4E
Based on this article, schools are supposed to list staff? I don’t know if id be exaggerating to say that the vast majority of schools in Taiwan don’t update their staff info. Like, if there was a staff page on their school website, it was updated in 2004, the same year they last updated the website…
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I just got fined $50,000 for having staff listed. It seems to me the crack down is more about protecting established schools than protecting the children. That is a lobbying group talking about school safety.
What do you mean exactly ? You’re the boss of the school and you got fined for what ? You mean you were late to list them ?
Correct, they need to be listed with the MOE or DOE something like that. We hadn’t done it during an inspection and got fined.
That is the biggest bunch of horseshit ever! Selective enforcement at best. I know of zero schools who have their staff rosters listed, updated and current.
It totally looks like you were targeted for being a foreigner or being a foreign owned school.
You have to submit an official list as part of the child protection regulations implemented in recent years. Perhaps that was the issue?
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I agree with the MOE on this . Of course all educational institutes for children should have complete staff lists and vetted staff lists. I think they acted appopropriately
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