Textbooks for mandatory education in Taiwan were also free at one time. But after the implementation of the 1968 Mandatory Nine-year Education Program, primary and middle-school student enrollment increased dramatically, and the government began charging a fee for textbooks in order to protect its finances.
我國義務教育的教科書原先也採免費制，民國五十七年九年國教實施後，由於國中小學生數量一下增加太多，為考量政府財政，才酌予收費。