Kaohsiung City Fully Subsidizes Public Kindergarten Teacher Lunches, Boosts IT Support with NT$32 Million Investment

Kaohsiung City is expanding its educational investment by fully subsidizing lunch expenses for teachers in public kindergartens, a move set to benefit approximately 1,300 educators starting in the 2026 academic year. Mayor Chen Chi-mai announced the policy, which aligns public kindergarten teachers with their counterparts in municipal elementary and junior high schools who already receive this benefit. The city estimates an annual investment of NT$20 million for this program.

The initiative aims to enhance the quality of early childhood education by fostering closer teacher-student interaction during mealtimes. Education officials believe that shared meals will help teachers monitor children's eating habits, promote balanced diets, teach table manners, and develop self-care skills. This policy is part of a broader effort by Kaohsiung to strengthen its educational infrastructure and support for teachers.

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First-line educators have long accompanied children in life, learning, and development, and are important partners in children's growth.

In addition to the lunch subsidy, Kaohsiung is also easing the requirements for schools to establish information technology departments. The threshold for setting up these departments will be lowered from 25 classes for elementary schools, 13 for junior high, and 40 for high schools, to just 13 classes for all school levels. This change, expected to benefit 63 schools with an annual investment of NT$12 million, aims to bolster administrative support for digital learning, information management, and the development of smart campuses.

These new policies build upon Kaohsiung's recent educational commitments, including the universal free lunch program for all public and private elementary and junior high students. The city has also implemented measures such as reducing teaching hours for elementary school administrative leaders and granting an extra preparation period for junior high Chinese language teachers. The latest announcements underscore Kaohsiung's ongoing strategy to enhance educational resources and teacher welfare.

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Through shared meals with teachers and students, we can immediately care for children's eating situations, cultivate balanced eating, table manners, and self-care abilities, and increase teacher-student interaction, thereby improving children's life education and care quality.