General Information

The aim of the Department of Education is to pursue high quality early childhood education. It takes the welfare of children as the priority and relies on the involvement of the government and local communities with the goal of matching parents’ expectations, improving specialization of teachers, and developing the features of pre-school educational institutions to create an entirely new era of early childhood education.

There are currently 139 public kindergartens (including 2 independent kindergartens, 133 kindergartens within the elementary schools and 4 kindergartens within the special education schools) with 435 recruited classes and 11,874 pupils and 216 private kindergartens, recruiting a total of 12,742 children. Statistics shows that there was a 94% entrance rate with children aged five years old that attend a pre-school education institution, (including public and private kindergartens and Nursery school).

Important Measures

1. Cultivate young children's daily living abilities to foster the development of sound behavior
   Cultivate young children’s sound character starting from the development of sound daily living abilities and integrate the concept with art and cultural activities, allowing young children to foster good behavior and manners.
   
   
2. Arrange activities relating to kindergarten safety, so as to promote children's safety in all kindergartens
   Put in place regulations governing the management and maintenance of kindergarten facilities, environment hygiene, playground facility, hygiene of drinking water and meals, and school buses. Ensure compliance by all kindergartens and carry out regular and irregular inspections to ensure children’s safety in all kindergartens.
   
   
3. Enhance the management of school bus safety To ensure kindergarten operators’ emphasis the safety
   of young children, the Department has invited the participation of the Law and Regulation Commission, Department of Transportation, Department of Social Welfare, Police Department and Motor Vehicles Office of Taipei City Government to formulate “Self-governing Regulations for the Management of School Buses by Taipei City’s Schools”. The Regulation is supplemented by compulsory periodic check-ups and roadside inspections required of school buses, training for kindergarten bus drivers and accompanying staff and on-site safety rehearsals to protect children and teachers’ safety.
   
   
4. Enhance young children’s physical capability by developing children’s interest in exercise and exercise habits
   To develop young children’s sound exercise habits, the Department has established and started the project of “Exercise is Fun for Taipei Kindergarteners”, that provides a variety of exercise teaching ideas such as: games, music, and dance in order to extend and encourage the participation from schools into homes.
   
   
5. Increase the depth of early childhood language learning by aggressively promoting the learning of the mother tongue, Mandarin and integrated learning of foreign languages
   The Department advocates a pre-school language learning policy of beginning with the mother tongue, then mandarin, then foreign languages, which is based on the City Government's “One Axis & Two Orbits Learning Policy” to promote mandarin and native language as well as cultivate multi-interests toward foreign languages.
   
   
6. Promote parent-child reading to inspire the interests of shared reading by parents and pre-school children
   Develop teachers’ competency in children’s literature, skills in integrating reading materials into daily teaching activities, and recognition for the importance of parent-child reading so as to inspire young children’s reading interest. Promote parent-child reading activities to enhance interactions between kindergartens and communities. Development of parents and children’s interest in reading will help build a harmonized parent-child relationship. In order to achieve these goals, we have organized several workshops including: “Parents’ Storytelling Tactics”, “Enjoyable Reading Between Children and Parents”, and “Create a Marvelous Book with Your Child”.
   
   
7. Advocate creativity in preschool education to improve future competitiveness
   Set up the “Taipei City Kindergarten Teachers’ Creative Teaching Center” to construct a creative learning environment for preschool children and guide them to develop independent thinking and problem solving abilities to be adaptable to future challenges and to improve the nation’s competitiveness.
   
   
8. Rich and diverse pre-school activities
   In accordance with the “Curriculum Standards for Kindergartens” promulgated by the Ministry of Education, We incorporate six major topics into the courses including health, games, music, work, language and knowledge. Implement a rich and diverse range of preschool educational activities to propel whole-person education for preschool children as well as cultivate their cultural and artistic qualities.
   
   
9. Administer assistance programs for pre-school education to improve its quality
   In line with the Ministry of Education’s policy in preschool education, we assist premium kindergartens to develop their specialization and share their teaching experience in order to build a group of model kindergartens. We offer support to kindergartens to enhance teaching quality.
   
   
10. Organize the transitional program for kindergartners entering elementary schools and undertake the “norm of qualified teachers” project to improve pupils’ adaptability
    To ensure a smooth bridge between preschool and elementary courses, the Department has organized the transitional program to facilitate interactions between kindergarten and elementary school teachers to ensure that children are adaptable to the new environment.
    
    
11. Respect for culture diversity and care for children in need
    The department offer privileges and various grants to assist less privileged children to receive preschool education. In light of the increasing number of children born to foreign parents, we have duly planned multi-culture teachers’ workshops to enhance teachers’ professional competence. Meanwhile, the Department also offers several parent-child teaching programs for new migrants.
    

Future Prospects

1. Set up the “High Quality Kindergarten Services” standards to promote quality management.
   
   
2. Improve preschool teachers’ competency in creative teaching to enhance children’s learning results.
   
   
3. Create a learning environment that respects creativity and enjoys sharing.
   
   
4. Develop multiple school management to facilitate perpetual development of both private and public kindergartens.
   
   
5. Strengthen preschool physical education in order for young children to develop a strong and healthy body and to improve the nation’s competitive strength.