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# [Intro] Facing Declining Birth Rates: Projected Map of Taiwan's Elementary School Student Population in 2041
map & data: https://sites.google.com/view/reschool/
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Here’s a 3-minute English script you can use for a talk on that project:
[Opening]
- Hello everyone. Today I’d like to introduce a civic tech project that addresses one of Taiwan’s pressing social issues — the declining birth rate. The project is called “Projected Map of Taiwan’s Elementary School Student Population in 2041.”
[Background & Problem]
- Taiwan is experiencing one of the fastest declines in birth rates in the world. This demographic change has major impacts on education, communities, and public resources.
- In the coming decades, many elementary schools will face shrinking class sizes, school mergers, or even closures. But how can we understand the scale and distribution of this trend?
[What the Project Does]
- This project combines government open data with demographic projections to create an interactive map of Taiwan. It shows, down to the township level, how the elementary school student population is expected to change by 2041.
- The map lets you explore regional differences: some areas may still grow slightly, while others face drastic declines.
- The dataset also highlights which schools might experience significant enrollment drops, allowing policymakers, parents, and local communities to prepare early.
[Impact]
The project has several important values:
- For policymakers: It provides a visual, data-driven tool to plan school resources, teacher allocations, and long-term infrastructure.
- For the public: It makes demographic challenges understandable at a glance — turning abstract numbers into a concrete, interactive story.
- For researchers and NGOs: It offers open access to the data for further analysis, helping discussions about education reform and community resilience.
[Collaboration & Future]
- This initiative is part of the broader civic tech movement. The map and data are openly available, which means anyone can explore, reuse, or build upon them.
- Looking ahead, the project could be expanded to include junior high schools, community services, or even housing and transportation planning, giving Taiwan a fuller picture of how demographic shifts reshape society.
[Closing]
In short, the “2041 Student Population Map” is more than just a visualization. It’s a way to confront the reality of declining birth rates and spark informed conversations about the future of education and community life in Taiwan.
map & data: https://sites.google.com/view/reschool/
Thank you.