TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The Taipei City Government's Department of Education (台北市教育局) confirmed on Tuesday (Aug. 20) that middle schools face a significant teacher shortage ahead of the new school year starting Aug. 30. The department plans to address the increased demand for substitute teachers by rehiring retired educators.
Taipei Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Chen Su-hui (陳素慧) explained that the surge in middle school enrollments, driven by the Year of the Dragon, has resulted in a higher-than-usual need for substitute teachers.
Chen also mentioned that the department will assess the staffing gaps in the coming days and rehire recently retired middle school teachers to serve as adjunct instructors. However, she acknowledged that the teachers may shoulder more work during the first two weeks of the new school year.
According to the Teacher Recruitment Network for National Senior High Schools and Below (教育部全國高級中等以下學校教師選聘網), 55 of Taipei's 60 public middle schools are still recruiting substitute teachers. Even prestigious schools like Dunhua Junior High School (敦化國中), Long Men Junior High School (龍門國中), Jieshou Junior High School (介壽國中), and Ren Ai Junior High School (仁愛國中) face staffing challenges, with Jinhua Junior High School (金華國中) urgently seeking 22 teachers.
The teacher shortage is not limited to middle schools. Over 60 elementary schools in Taipei are also recruiting. Additionally, cities and counties across Taiwan have opened unprecedented numbers of teaching positions: Taoyuan City (桃園市) with 700, New Taipei City (新北市) with nearly 600, Taipei with 461, Taichung City (台中市) with 344, Changhua County (彰化縣) with 276, Yilan County (宜蘭縣) with 190, and Pingtung County (屏東縣) with 132.