Job Discussion Forums

[Tek]

I just made a bet with my roommate. How many English schools are there in Taipei and Taiwan as a whole?

[surrealia]

EXACTLY 76,892. I went around on my bike yesterday counting them

Okay, I'm just being silly. If you go here:

http://www.geocities.com/allhou/schoo.htm

you can find a list of schools for most of the major cities. However, the lists have not been updated in a while.

[clark.w.griswald]

This is an almost impossible question to answer as it changes regularly.

On the site that I am involved with we have roughly 2,800 current schools listed. My best bet is that any one time there could be 5,000-8,000 private buxiban and kindergartens that employ foreign English teachers in Taiwan.

[BigWally]

better question...

Q: How many 7/11's are there in Taiwan?

A: 4037 stores as of 2006, this gives Taiwan 6200 potential shoppers for each 7-Eleven convenience store!

[Aristotle]

The truth (if you can call it that) is that no one really knows. I have heard estimates by members of the bureaucracy that state up to have of all cram schools are not registered as such.
3000 to 5000 is a conservative estimate and that number may go well beyond the 10,000 mark. Keep in mind that not all schools hire a foreign teacher and in recent years overseas Chinese tend to be taking up foreign teacher positions, as is their right, simply because they work for less money and are not adverse to the local culture as many minority teachers tend to be.
The overall trend is to cut cost as the economy stagnates and the number of students decreases at an alarming rate. Most expect this trend to continue until the ROC is abolished and the next occupation begins.
Good luck!
A.

[clark.w.griswald]