In the News

With fewer children schools compete for students

• Publication Date：03/12/2010
• Source： Liberty Times

As fewer children are being born, both private and public middle schools are becoming increasingly desperate to attract students.

In Taipei County, Yongho Middle School principal Ting Tze-min is making a series of appearances around the school district in hopes of getting elementary school graduates to know his school and increase the student body numbers for next year.

As the graduation season nears, private middle schools are working on the recruiting front, arranging introductory sessions and testing. Public middle schools are faced with shrinking class sizes, and the Department of Education is making plans to control employee numbers as class sizes drop. However, the essential tack being taken is still to try to retain students and attract new ones.

Ting came on board as principal in August of last year. His middle school is ringed by private schools, and the competition is fierce. With Hsiushan Elementary and Yungho City just one street away, the majority of elementary school graduates opt to continue their studies at Yungho Middle School or Fuho Middle School.

There are other elementary schools nearby, such as Fuhsing, Chinghsin, Hsingnan and Hsingho, and entry rates from those schools average about 80 percent, with some as low as 60 percent.

Ting said quite a few students "get away." Yungho Middle School may be downsized from a large middle school (with 62 classes of students) to a medium one, with 59 classes. The complement of personnel will similarly change, and the impact on teachers and students alike will be considerable.

After the school year got underway, Ting arranged with the local elementary schools to speak to their students, hoping to be able to attract more new students to the school.

The Taipei County Department of Education said shrinking family sizes are gradually impacting middle schools. Plans are to reduce classes by one student per year, with average class size going from 35 to 34 in the 2009 school year, and down to 30 by the 2013 school year.

(This article originally appeared in “The Liberty Times” March 11, 2010.)