As Taiwan has developed, it has attracted a number of long-term foreign residents. For those who are married and raising families here, the question arises: what kind of education do they wish to provide for their children?
Many of the foreigners living in Taiwan are women from China and Southeast Asia who have come to Taiwan as the spouse of a Taiwanese citizen. For most of them, the answer is clear: local public schools. Anecdotal and statistical evidence from both the Ministry of Interior and NGOs that work with foreign brides indicate that most of their children attend local public schools, speak Chinese, and try to integrate into the community as much as possible.
For more affluent foreigners working for large multinational corporations and receiving what is called the “expat package,” the answer usually is also clear: one of some 19 international schools that dot the island, primarily in the bigger cities of Kaohsiung, Taichung, Hsinchu, and especially Taipei City. For these people, the multinational employer generally picks up the tab, allowing them the privilege of sending their children to such excellent institutions as the Taipei American School (TAS) and Taipei European School (TES). Collectively, these international schools serve some 10,000 students, all of whom must hold a foreign passport to attend.
But as Richard A. Hartzell, Upper School Principal at TAS, notes, the expat package is becoming increasingly rare in Taiwan, and while students at TAS hold foreign passports, most have family connections in Taiwan, with a solid majority having grown up here.
“Taiwanese schools are strict and limiting,” asserts Revital Golan, founder and CEO of Anemone Ventures, a business consultancy based in Taipei. “They are overly test focused, so students are not being educated in solving problems or encouraged to be creative. Instead they are learning test-taking skills.” GolanÂ’s two children have both attended TES since kindergarten, where her eldest is preparing to graduate from high school this year.