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Chiayi City and Kinmen took the lead in reducing the teacher-student ratio in kindergartens. The General Education Headquarters held a press conference today to call on all counties and cities to follow up. Legislator Zhang Liao Wanjian (first from right) attended the press conference to express support.
(Photo by reporter Lin Xiaoyun)
[Reporter Lin Xiaoyun/Taipei Report] The Ministry of Education promotes the reduction of teacher-student ratio in kindergartens in counties and cities across the country year by year. Kinmen and Jiashi are currently the only two counties and cities that meet the standard. The National Federation of Teachers’ Unions held a press conference today to call on other counties and cities to follow up as soon as possible Therefore, the Ministry of Education should also take the lead and put forward a specific plan to promote a consistent teacher-student ratio in kindergartens across the country, from the current 1:15 to 1:12 (1 teacher takes care of and teaches 12 young children).
The teacher-to-student ratio of 1:15 has been implemented for 40 years. The reduction of the teacher-to-student ratio to 1:12 is the expectation of all walks of life. Chiayi City recently announced that starting from the 112th school year (August this year), public kindergartens will enroll new small classes, and the teacher-student ratio will be The current 1:15 has been reduced to 1:12, making it the first county and city on Taiwan's main island to announce a complete reduction except Kinmen.
Hou Junliang, chairman of the National Education Council, said that Chiayi Mayor Huang Minhui signed the National Education Council’s education policy before the election last year. Not long after the election, he announced the implementation of the policy of reducing the teacher-student ratio. The ratio, together with the 2-year-old kindergarten class, has also been reduced from 1 to 8 to 1 to 6, which shows the determination of the administrative team to reform.
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Hou Junliang said that looking at the counties and cities that signed the education policy of the National Education Council last year, in addition to Chiayi City, there are Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Taichung City (partial support), Kaohsiung City, Keelung City, Hsinchu City, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County (partial support), Nantou County (partial support), Changhua County, Chiayi County, Pingtung County, Yilan County, Hualien County, Taitung County (partial support), Kinmen County, Lianjiang County.
Legislator Zhang Liao Wanjian attended the press conference and said that the Legislative Yuan revised the Child Care Law last year, requiring the Ministry of Education to reduce the teacher-student ratio in kindergartens, reduce the burden on preschool educators, and improve the quality of early childhood education. He also reminded the Ministry of Education to take supporting measures so as not to increase the burden on parents. .
Deputy Secretary-General Yang Yifei pointed out that the Ministry of Education’s plan to increase the number of teaching and security personnel as a supporting package should only be an expedient measure. After graduation, the number of currently full classes should be recruited according to the reduced number of people (24 students per class). To achieve the ultimate goal of 1:12, in the long run, the reduced number of students should be included in the calculation of the total number of additional public schools in the future. Educational resources are gradually returning to the public system, so that the ratio of real public children to private children is 7:3.
Lin Wenwen, chairman of the Chiayi City Teachers' Professional Union, said that the actual reduction requires pressure from various groups. Chiayi City took the lead in lowering the teacher-student ratio in the country, and behind it is the strong backing of the group voices of the All-Teaching Federation and friendship associations in counties and cities. Thanks to Huang Minhui, Mayor of Chiayi, and Lin Lisheng, Director of High Efficiency Education, who have the courage to take responsibility, they were able to start the first shot in reducing the teacher-to-student ratio. Chiayi City also paid full annual salaries to acting teachers as early as the 2018 school year, which are worthwhile. Praise hard.