More than 60% of Taiwanese parents think English learning at schools inadequate: survey

調查顯示：超過60％的台灣家長認為學校英語學習不足

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—According to the results of a survey, 69% of parents of elementary school and junior high school students in Taiwan would have their children learn English at cram schools or after-school classes, and nearly 10% of parents spent nearly NT$100,000 a year for their kids to get extra English learning.

The survey on English education of Taiwan’s children and youths was sponsored by Chun Shin Limited, the official agent of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Taiwan, and conducted by the Survey Center of Shih Hsin University between March 28 and April 9. The pollster conducted telephone interviews with randomly selected parents of elementary school and junior high school children and obtained 1,070 valid samples, Chun Shin said.

According to the results of the survey released on Sunday, 42% of parents had their children study English before they went to elementary schools; 64.2% of parents thought that earlier English education in schools was inadequate; 69.2% of parents would have their children study English at cram schools or after-school classes, and 48.1% of parents thought it was helpful to learn English from cram schools or after-school classes.

The survey also showed that 29.2% of parents each paid an average of NT$48,000 a year for their children to learn English, and 8.8% of parents each spent NT$96,000 a year on extra English lessons for their kids.

The survey results also indicated that the main purposes of parents wanting their children to learn English are internationalization (39.9%), future employment (37.9%) and advancing to a higher school (32.2%).

According to the survey results, 51.3% of parents would use teaching materials to improve their children’s English ability, and when it comes to choosing objective English tests, 36.9% of parents would first consider internally accredited tests.