Public kindergartens in New Taipei City rarely have vacancies this year.

(Schematic diagram, provided by the New Taipei City Government Education Bureau)

[Reporter Zhou Xiangyun/New Taipei Report] Public kindergartens in New Taipei City rarely have vacancies this year. Some lawmakers pointed out that due to the shortage of teachers and security staff, there are few classes in the kindergartens after winter and summer vacations. Parents would rather spend more money to let their children study in quasi-public or private children.

The Education Bureau pointed out that the minimum number of weeks required to stay in the kindergarten after school is stipulated in the winter and summer vacations. In the future, the incentive mechanism will be discussed to encourage kindergartens to extend the number of weeks and strengthen human matchmaking.

New Taipei City Councilor Lai Qiumei said that there are 315 public kindergartens and non-profit kindergartens in New Taipei City in the 110 academic year, and 232 (73.6%) of them have after-school kindergartens for winter vacations, of which only 13 are for 2 weeks (4%); There are 221 institutions (70%) who stay in the kindergarten after school, of which only 22 institutions (6.9%) have done so for 8 weeks.

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Lai Qiumei pointed out that in the past, parents in public and elementary schools had been robbed of their heads, but in the 111 school year, some schools had vacancies, mainly because most parents were employed across districts. Had to choose the more expensive quasi-public or private kindergarten collection.

New Taipei City Councilor He Shufeng also said that in the 108 academic year, there were 62 schools in New Taipei City with insufficient teaching staff during the winter and summer vacations, and 48 in the 109 academic year.

Although the Education Bureau established an after-school talent pool in 2019 to match students with majors and interests in education and security services to join schools with manpower needs, the matchmaking effect has not been good in the past three years. Only 16 people will be added, and only 1 person will be affected by the epidemic in 2021.

The Education Bureau stated that, except for project construction, special reasons, or the number of participants is less than 5, all stay in the kindergarten after winter vacation must be processed for at least 7 days, summer vacation for 6 to 8 weeks, and divided into half-day (morning 8:00 am to 12:00 pm), full-time (8:00 am to 5:00 pm) for parents to choose, among which, the winter vacation of the 110 academic year is only 11 days after the Spring Festival holiday, so the number of kindergartens for more than 2 weeks is relatively small.

The Education Bureau stated that due to the impact of the epidemic in the past two years, the number of weeks in which each kindergarten operates during the winter and summer vacations has also affected, but this year, no kindergarten has received any response to the problem of not opening classes due to insufficient education staff.

In the future, considering the needs of parents for custody, the incentive mechanism will be discussed to encourage kindergartens to extend the number of weeks after school during winter and summer vacations, and will continue to conduct human matchmaking with the preschool education and preschool care departments of colleges and universities.

The Education Bureau also said that most of the schools that are not full this year are in remote or inconvenient areas. After the enrollment of each school year, the regional supply and demand will be assessed and the reasons for the insufficiency will be investigated. As the object of counseling, adjust the class or other processing.