I have a kid who’s currently 5 years old, born in Sept, was denied entry for public kindergarten in New Taipei City, which is not surprising since it’s hard for foreigner like us to get allocation. So we came up with an idea to enroll her for elementary school instead, but found out the enrollment dates are already due.
We don’t know if they will allow her to enroll since she will be 5y11m by Sept 1st, which as far as I know not meet the requirement to enroll elementary school (i read somewhere the minimum age is 6 yo by Sept 1st on each calendar year).
My question, will it be worth the effort to stroll around elementary schools in my area to ask whether they still have vacancy and allow us to enroll? or just give up and wait for the next year?
When you say “denied entry” do you mean did not “win” in the lottery or something else? What area are you in? The less popular public kindergartens may still have a few places.
typical rule, they put my child on the last priority because of our nationality, we can only enroll after 06/02 if there’s still vacancy, which i doubt there will be any. They will let 3/4 yo Taiwanese to draw lottery, but not my 5yo child. This situation is kinda different for Taipei City, they’re more relaxed about this.
I went to 2 public kindies, all of them told me the same thing, so our only option would enroll her for private kindy, public elementary school next year.
Yes, in New Taipei you truly get treated as an outsider, I believe Taipei city gives the same category as “locals”. Don’t feel too bad, unless you are from a “disadvantaged” family or one of several special categories it very difficult to get a place, even for “locals”.
In Xindian we were in the same position a few years ago however we did get offered a place (wholly foreign couple) in a public kindergarten on the outskirts. We eventually turned it down and went with a private one.
Yep, we were prepared for this, last year we lived in Taipei, went for lottery, so I know how it worked there. I moved to Tamsui this CNY in a bid for a better living environment instead of polluted & crowded area such as Neihu, and this is one of the trade off.
Last year we enrolled in one school, and then moved house. They let us enroll after the date in another school. There was no problem they said that places were not limited in grade 1. This was in New Taipei city. We asked in two schools and they were both OK for enrollment after the date.
I have also recently heard that the policy about foreigners not being allowed to enroll in public kindergarten unless there are left over spaces after the lottery is no longer in effect. Apparently this year foreigners are allowed to enter the public kindergarten place lottery in new Taipei. (This was just hearsay no direct experience)
I know we can ask schools for vacancy if the registration already due, but first of all, my child’s age is not meet the requirement, so that’s the reason i asked this beforehand.
i guess this is not yet implemented this year, we’re just not lucky enough for this change of regulation.
I heard that it is changed already, this year, but like I said that was not based on direct experience. In any case If I was in your position I would ask at the school to be sure.
i went to 2 public kindies, both gave me same answer, we can enroll after 06/02 if there’s vacancy.
1st batch of enrollment 20-23
2nd batch 27-30,
the leftovers will be released after 06/02, say if parents change their mind and withdraw their enrollment, they told me to visit the school / call them to check this.
When did the enrollment ends for the elementary schools? That is so fast.
Can you still enroll your kids in the middle of school year?
I’m planning to come only in August, not sure if we can enroll our 7 year old on time.
You can enroll anytime as long as there are vacancies and you meet the requirements. If you already know what area you will move to you can contact schools in that district to check for vacancies in advance.
How come? The drawing will be this Saturday at noon!
I’m not sure about other cities, but in New Taipei City you can register until Saturday morning to take part in the draw.
BTW, you can also see how many parents had applied to a specific school, so you can select one with more chances for your to get in. Besides public schools, there are non-profit schools, which are also listed for the drawing.