Hi there,
Our grandson is going to take the admission test for Yu-Tsai this month.
I have no idea whether this school is any good or not, so I’m curious, is there anyone here who has taught there before or has kids who have gone to that school?
Looks a bit old and small from images and videos I seen so far.
Any insight would be appreciated.
I believe a friend of mine sent her daughters there because she believed in high-pressure discipline with lots of homework would get her daughters into national universities eventually.
This was very important to her because although she was quite succesful she was ashamed of having gone to a much lesser school in the rural south.
She also did not want her daughters to have contact with the children of poor people who would be in the local public schools.
Although I had/have my reservations about these motivations, her daughters grew up to be happy, confident young women who indeed did go to national universities and seem to be doing pretty well making their way in the world. One overseas studying art in Italy and the other climbing the ranks at a big tech company here in Taiwan.
In general. private schools in the Taipei area are for people who think the regular public schools aren’t hardcore enough and don’t give enough homework. So he’ll probably eventually have to work pretty hard there.
I am not sure what to worry about, to be honest. A high-pressure environment that prepares a kid for the tough world out there (or turns it into a emotionless robot) or one that is more relaxed and has potentially bad influence, because of the unwashed peasant population.
Looking at our boy, I think he is on the bright side of things, so he will probably thrive if the school is more demanding and he is surrounded by the more intelligent students. Boredom would probably lead to more severe problems than pressure to achieve excellence.
I don’t think they would be in business if their model didn’t work for a good number of their students. And these schools very much are businesses. They are owned by families. Basically glorified and more professional (and more highly regulated) buxibans.
The one thing I am not sure I would assume is that the students there are necessarily particularly bright. It’s usually thought that the best and brightest go to public schools in Taipei like Tunhua and Xinsheng. That’s where the real elite sends their kids.
The private schools are more for the socially mobile/climbing parents like my friend. They tend to be a bit anxious and conservative. Their children are products of that context with what that entails.
You might want to consider Chu Lin Elementary School (竹林國小). A dedicated educator who I have know for a very long time has worked there for decades. She wouldn’t do that if she didn’t believe in it. I believe it’s very similar to Yu-tsai.
Chu-Lin is probably the fall-back option if Yu-tsai does not work out. Not sure if he will pass whatever test they have. His mother prefers Yu-tsai for some reason.