The aging of teachers in Taiwan has caused public concern about the impact on school operations and education quality.

China News Service, Taipei, October 13. Taiwan's "United Daily News" reported on the 13th that the age structure of Taiwan's teachers has gradually become older in recent years, and problems have arisen in the "metabolism" of the education system. Public opinion points out that the “teacher generation gap” may affect the inheritance of teaching experience and lead to deterioration in school operations and education quality.

According to the latest "Education Statistical Indicators" released by the Taiwan authorities' educational affairs department, in the 2023-2025 school year, the proportion of Taiwan's primary school teachers aged 40 to 49 dropped from 40.1% to 36.3%, the proportion of Taiwanese teachers aged 50 to 59 increased from 30.9% to 34%, and the proportion of teachers over 60 increased from 2.1% to 3.1%. In these three age groups, the trend of changes in the proportion of middle school teachers is roughly the same.

Ye Mingzheng, vice chairman of the Taiwan Education Industry Union, analyzed that the declining birthrate has led to fewer classes in primary and secondary schools and a drop in demand for teachers. In order to avoid oversupply of teachers, various county and city education bureaus have suspended teacher qualification examinations for a long time, resulting in young teachers being "unable to get in." The authorities' "pension reform policy" has extended the retirement age of teachers and gradually imbalanced the age structure.

Zhang Qiongfang, vice chairman of the Taiwan Federation of Teachers Unions, pointed out that schools should have teachers from different generations. On the one hand, senior teachers can lead new teachers to learn, and on the other hand, new teaching concepts and technology applications can be introduced into the campus. In the future, under the dual influence of the "teacher generation gap" and the wave of retirement, school service and teaching quality may deteriorate.

Teachers in Taiwan’s higher education system are also getting older. Another statistics from the Taiwan authorities’ education affairs department shows that in the 2025 academic year, teachers in higher education institutions under the age of 39 accounted for approximately 7.4%, while in the 2016 academic year the proportion was approximately 11.1%. The latest report from the audit affairs department of the Taiwan authorities also pointed out that in 2025, the proportion of full-time teachers in Taiwan’s higher education institutions aged 50 to 59 will account for approximately 65%, and those over 60 will account for approximately 23%.