Pesky English teachers.

Looks like the govt visa system has backfired AGAIN.
Cant expect too much from unqualified officials.

https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/education/2 … 69263.html
-@colinoscapee

Except for the winnowing of unqualified teachers?

Can't have it both ways.

Previous complaints about language centers hiring unqualified foreigners so the parents can be charged a lot more were true.

So the qualified teachers that are missing were never here in the first place.

Hello all,

I have deemed it fit to remove a few posts from this discussion.

Could we kindly avoid any snide or personal comments please?

Let's stick to the topic and try to respect everyone

Cheers,

Yoginee

Expat.com team

Well, the situation is somewhat complicated. English centers are businesses, not schools, and they don’t require full-time teachers to operate. Generally, they may have one or two "head teachers" who handle some administrative duties in addition to teaching. Then they have a class schedule that needs filling. They need someone who is available from 5 to 9 pm Mon, Weds and Fri and 8 am to 11 and 2 to 5 on Sat-Sun for the next 3 months or so. Naturally, they're reluctant to offer this person a full-time contract with a monthly salary, especially with breaks between courses thrown in. So, instead, they just pay by the teaching hour (classroom time).

As a result, for the situation to change, officials and business owners need to get together and first define what constitutes "qualified" and then determine the most effective way to attract these qualified educators to commit to traveling to and teaching in Vietnam for the specified contract period after receiving special permission.

Furthermore, schools will need to think about how they can finance the providing of air fares, suitable accommodation, monthly salaries, annual bonuses, work permit, visa costs, insurance, etc. that will be required for these qualified teachers. Obviously, they will have to increase their tuition fees, perhaps even doubling or tripling them.

Ha!  I teach in Binh Duong, the very province that article cited.  The shortage is real, but I personally haven't received an extra dime for my troubles.  On the contrary, my wage has contracted due to a weak dong and inflation, which is beginning to hit here too. 

All of this has come at an almost comical level of stress, anxiety, and difficulty for me, risking life and limb for starbucks barista wages.  When I am late in rush hour traffic trying to get to my 6 day a week job or the other gig I do on the 7th day, driving unlicensed through 2 feet of flood water in Vietnamese traffic, praying my bike doesnt plunge into a crater or boulder in the road hidden beneath the flood water, I don't think there is anyone back in the Western world who envies me or would wanna come over here to Binh Duong for these wages.

I have noticed my company has job postings offering starting salaries 20% higher than the rate I started at over a year ago (though the job posting is likely a bait and switch), and they are offering up to $5000 to transfer to Binh Duong from within Vietnam, but tbh that just makes me wanna leave and find a new contract...

Ha! I teach in Binh Duong, the very province that article cited. The shortage is real, but I personally haven't received an extra dime for my troubles. On the contrary, my wage has contracted due to a weak dong and inflation, which is beginning to hit here too.
All of this has come at an almost comical level of stress, anxiety, and difficulty for me, risking life and limb for starbucks barista wages. When I am late in rush hour traffic trying to get to my 6 day a week job or the other gig I do on the 7th day, driving unlicensed through 2 feet of flood water in Vietnamese traffic, praying my bike doesnt plunge into a crater or boulder in the road hidden beneath the flood water, I don't think there is anyone back in the Western world who envies me or would wanna come over here to Binh Duong for these wages.

I have noticed my company has job postings offering starting salaries 20% higher than the rate I started at over a year ago (though the job posting is likely a bait and switch), and they are offering up to $5000 to transfer to Binh Duong from within Vietnam, but tbh that just makes me wanna leave and find a new contract...
-@telescopicPuma

And there is the biggest issue of all, the schools and their dodgy practices. Some of the underhanded things I have seen done by school owners would make your blood boil.

A good example is Outerspace and its affiliated schools, total scam artists. Here we are 15-years on and Outerspace and their corrupt subsiduaries are all still running. Maybe focusing a bit more on the schools than the employees would go a long way.

To

tbh that just makes me wanna leave and find a new contract...
-@telescopicPuma

It may be better to do it the other way round. Find a new  contract and then leave.

The best time to look for a job is when you already have one.

Also:

Thanks for sharing what it's really like out there. Most people have little idea of how rough the TEFL world can be.

Best of luck with your job search.

https://vietnamteachingjobs.com

tbh that just makes me wanna leave and find a new contract...
-@telescopicPuma

It may be better to do it the other way round. Find a new contract and then leave.

The best time to look for a job is when you already have one.

Also:
Thanks for sharing what it's really like out there. Most people have little idea of how rough the TEFL world can be.

Best of luck with your job search.

https://vietnamteachingjobs.com
-@johnross23

A qualified ESL teacher can't swing a day bag out here without getting an  offer to tutor someone's child or work in a language center, so you will never have to worry about finding another job.

Sadly, my insufferable whining is really just the tip of the iceberg.  From 17% tax rate (11% effective), to my colleagues who get late night visits from the local police to check their papers for the ever elusive police stamp that officials are always so strangely reluctant to give out when you try to go through the proper channels, to the  police who swarm daily around rich districts but are invisible otherwise, I could go on and on...

I suspect the goal of the government is keep a lid on ESL, and not let Westernization go too far.  Yet the demand for English is outrageously high, and if it weren't for the govt, you would see exponential growth in this industry.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5I_Miv_wAI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5I_Miv_wAI
-@Aidan in HCMC

Funny, but I hope they paid the royalties to Key & Peele.