In the fall of 2000, children who attended approved private kindergartens in Taiwan became eligible for annual vouchers of NT$10,000 (New Taiwan dollars). By providing public funds for vouchers, Taiwan’s government reversed its previous hands-off approach to private preschool education. Previously, most government spending on early childhood education was used to support public kindergartens. In 2000, only 30 percent of preschool-aged children attended public kindergartens. Most attended private kindergartens, which received few public subsidies. By subsidizing private preschool tuition, vouchers were intended to narrow the growing inequalities in education choices between wealthier and poorer families. Government officials justified vouchers on the grounds of “rationalizing the distribution of resources” and “lessening the economic burden on parents.” In addition, scholars and private kindergarten entrepreneurs hailed the voucher reform as an integral step in the modernization of preschool education. Vouchers were claimed to enable parental choice and school competition and to improve children’s welfare. Preschool vouchers were rapidly integrated into Taiwan’s ongoing education reform, which had been initiated in the mid-1990s.
