Taipei, Jun. 29 (CNA) -- Legislators from the Kuomintang (KMT) have proposed amending the Compulsory Education Act to extend compulsory education down to age 5, with the central government to bear the costs. Deputy Minister of Education Chang Liao Wan-chien stated on Wednesday that the mainstream academic opinion does not strongly advocate for this extension. Currently, parents face the greatest pressure from the economic burden of childcare, and the government's priority is to alleviate family burdens and increase the availability of affordable public childcare and education. The Legislative Yuan's Education and Culture Committee reviewed amendments to regulations concerning the dismissal, non-reappointment, suspension, or severance of teachers in senior high schools and below, regulations for the performance evaluation of teachers in public senior high schools and below, and a draft amendment to the Compulsory Education Act proposed by KMT legislators. At the beginning of the meeting, KMT convener Lo Ting-wei and legislator Lo Chih-chiang expressed dissatisfaction with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators for not signing a consent form for non-reconsideration, which prevented the bills from being discussed article by article. DPP legislators argued that extending compulsory education to age 5 is a significant issue and criticized the KMT for not reviewing the budgets for the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Sports. The committee ultimately passed a motion proposed by DPP legislators to limit the day's proceedings to question-and-answer sessions. In a written report, Chang Liao Wan-chien indicated that including 5-year-olds in basic compulsory education would require at least an additional 1,431 classes. If children aged 3 to 5 were included, at least 14,356 additional classes would be needed. This could lead to shortages in school space and childcare personnel, potentially crowding out educational opportunities for 2- to 4-year-olds, impacting the