Emphasis on Education Consistent with the historical Chinese cultural veneration for education, six years of education became compulsory on Taiwan in 1950. Especially impressive were enrollment
rates for girls, which surpassed 90% for those aged 6 to 11 by 1956. (The comparable figure for boys in that year was over 96%.) Emphasis on girls’ education is widely viewed as one of the most important factors in successful development. When compulsory education was expanded to
nine years in 1968, there were doubts that the economy could afford it. Today, while nine years remains a remarkable minimum educational standard for any developing economy, plans are being considered to expand compulsory schooling to 12 years. Other features have also been in play. Students go to school seven hours a day, five and one-half days a week. In 2002, the overall student-teacher ratio was less than 20. Teacher salaries are relatively high, comparable to lower-middle management in Taiwan. Taiwan’s models were the United States for general education and Japan for vocational education. Greater emphasis is placed on general than on jobspecific skills. But incentives for close relationships between education and business are also stressed. Tax breaks are given for company donations of personnel and equipment to schools. Assuming that the world development community is serious in its milliennium development goal of enrolling all children in six years of elementary school by 2015, the early experience of Taiwan is instructive. Enrollment was real and not just on paper, students generally remained in school after they enrolled, teachers taught seriously, and corruption was kept to a minimum. The contrast in most of these respects to today’s low-income countries is striking.