Text Books for Kids

I went to the library of the National Institution of Compilation and Translation to do some research on the textbooks used in elementary schools in Taiwan.

There are four main publishers in the market of textbook publication. All of the publications have to obtain approval from the NICT and the Education Minster of Taiwan to be qualified as textbooks for public elementary schools. The editors include professors in related field, school teachers, and famous writers of children's literature in the subject of National Language (Mandarin Chinese).

In the domain of language lessons, a fifth grader in Taiwan is taking 200 minutes of Mandarin Chinese, 80 minutes of English, and 40 minute of mother tongue (mostly Taiwanese, in Taipei City) in a week.

Different from the expensive heavy set textbooks used in the States, all the textbooks here are paperback, designed to be carried around easily by young kids. The size of a textbook is about the size of the People magazine, so as its price. It costs around 120 NT (4 USD) for each book. Every child thus owns their own textbooks and is free to write or graffiti on the books.