Teacher Pay

What do teachers get paid for teaching English in Taiwan?  Unlike most jobs, you won’t get paid considerably more if you are more qualified.  This isn’t to say that you won’t make more money, but usually the extra amount you get paid is minimal compared to the time and cost of obtaining those extra qualifications in the first place.

Kindergartens

Kindergartens usually offer the lowest of pay ranges in Taiwan.  Many schools start teachers off at 550NT to 600NT per hour.  Unless you are working both kindergarten and cram school, I personally wouldn’t recommend accepting any job that pays less than 600NT an hour.  Kindergarten classes usually run from Monday to Friday and anywhere from two to four hours a day.

Kindergartens usually offer raises every three to six months and have a ceiling on the hourly pay around 650NT – 700NT per hour.  The longer you stay at a school the more you will be paid, but only slightly more.

Cram Schools

Most cram school teachers start off at 600NT an hour.  However, it is not uncommon to see cram schools advertising positions and only offering 550NT per hour, sometimes even less.  I would strongly recommend that you don’t take any job that offers less than 600NT an hour as the starting rate.  Cram school classes usually run Monday to Friday and from 5pm to 9pm.  So you would be working four hours a day.

Like kindergartens, cram schools usually have a ceiling around 700NT per hour for teachers.  Raises are given every three to six months.  Some cram schools may offer slightly higher than 700NT per hour, but the majority of schools pay around this.

Public Schools

Many public and private schools will pay teachers a monthly salary and not by the hour.  The exact rate will vary depending on the school, however, once you take into account the amount of so called “office hours” and extra work that may be required, public and private schools typically pay around the same as what cram schools do.

Universities

Universities will usually pay slightly more than cram schools.  Expect a university position to start off around 650NT an hour.  This is only a slight increase over what cram schools pay but to work at a university you must have at least a Master’s degree.  The time taken and money spent earning the Master’s degree isn’t shown in what university teachers get paid.  Don’t expect to be paid considerably more in Taiwan just because you hold extra teaching or education related credentials.