Children living in Taipei City will receive kindergarten tuition subsidies starting today, the Taipei City Government announced yesterday, saying the measure would last one year before a similar program applies nationwide.
Under the municipal program, five-year-olds whose households are registered in Taipei City will receive a yearly NT$12,543 (US$391) tuition subsidy. The subsidy will cover the full tuition for a child to attend public kindergartens. Children attending private kindergartens will receive the same amount.
In a bid to ease the financial burden on parents and increase the birthrate, the municipal program applies to all registered households and there is no ceiling on the applicants’ annual income.
More than 22,000 students in Taipei are expected to benefit from the program, Taipei City’s Department of Education said.
The nationwide subsidy program formulated by the Ministry of Education, on the other hand, will only allow families whose annual household income does not exceed NT$1.1 million to apply for the tuition subsidy.
Those who choose to attend private kindergartens that are on the ministry’s list of cooperative schools will receive a NT$30,000 tuition subsidy every year.
The national program will take effect next year in Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu and Aboriginal townships before extending to other cities and counties in the 2011-2012 academic year.
“Taipei City will be the first city to implement the policy. We hope more couples will consider having kids as the program can help ease their financial burden,” Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said at Taipei City Hall.
The tuition break is expected to cost the city government NT$500 million for the academic year.
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