Preschool Inclusion Placement in Taiwan

Abstract

Despite the steady decline in birth rate in Taiwan, the number of special education children continues to increase, especially after the implementation of the Early Childhood Education and Care Act in 2012. The most significant increase was seen with placing special education preschoolers in inclusion classrooms. In particular, the number of students receiving itinerant services has grown the most dramatically, accompanied by a decrease in the number of students receiving special education programs delivered in regular classrooms. However, almost half of the counties and cities in Taiwan failed to deliver itinerant services to half of the special education students in their jurisdictions, which signals a shortage of special education support for regular early childhood teachers. The lack of clear guidelines in the current policies for preschool inclusion placement has also led to the neglect of special education inclusion students right to appropriate education. Responding suggestions are discussed.