To ALL Teachers:
If you are thinking of pursuing a higher certification in TESL and want a CELTA or DELTA, here is a word of caution.
Go on the official Cambridge website and check out the list of authentic schools and instructors before agreeing to pay someone who is claiming they are "real".
My school was taken in, I am really ashamed of it and posting this is not easy for me. We trusted this person because they were once an employee of our company and have since started their own business. We thought we'd be kind and help them out, but in the end 8 of our teachers were scammed and so were we.
I did report this to Ofqual the official UK government bureau who is supposed to stop this sort of thing from happening. They took my report and as of today nothing can be done because as they put it "I need to give them more information"...my reply was if I had the information they wanted I'd just proceed with a lawsuit.
I pursued this with Cambridge and while they expressed concern and even were sorry for our problem, they will not do anything to help us. They have further stated that they will not post a warning to others. I have given them plenty of proof so they could at least post and warn others, but they are choosing not to pursue it. They will not even go after this person who ripped them off as well.
In the end, I am sorry to say that 8 of my teachers and my school were scammed and cheated out of money and a valid certification.
Please NOTE my teachers wanted to do the work, and they did a course but in the end the course and certification are worthless. I take full responsibility for being hoodwinked, and our company is taking steps to insure this will not happen again. We have done our best to compensate our teachers some of the cost for the bogus course. It however doesn't provide them with a real certification which was the goal.
So, word to others, check out the school and confirm they can offer the authentic course from the provider. Have them show you a real certificate and verify that it contains all the information that makes it valid, (ie: Cambridge logo, Ofqual logo, real certification numbers etc). If in doubt ask the provider to verify it, before you pay and get scammed.
My teachers wasted 3 months of time and a good sum of money (none of them can afford to lose right now) for a worthless piece of paper. The saying "buyer beware" is so true.
BEWARE OF FRAUD - CELTA AND/OR DELTA CERTIFICATIONS
Cambridge is THE examinations group as far as English is concerned in Asia, so that means there will always be fraudsters trying to mimic them.
They are easy to spot as cambridge publish a complete list of authorised partners.
https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/ … ge-school/
Cambridge has no power to stop anyone using their name illegally save contacting local authorities and making a complaint, even in the UK.
Ofqual are part of the UK government so are nothing to do with anyone outside the United kingdom. They have the power to do a lot in the UK but absolutely nothing in the rest of the world, thus are a waste of time as far as China is concerned. If the alledged fraudster is a UK resident or based in the UK, that may change things.
Assuming you don't simply ignore the situation save posting it on forums or wherever, you have 2 likely courses of action:
You can try to take the fraudser to court
You can make a local police complaint and see if they will take action
lrai wrote:I take full responsibility for being hoodwinked
Your teachers have three options (2 as above), the last being asking you to refund their money as you set it up without checking the company, thus are guilty of negligence (as you admit and take responsibility for in your post)
Fred:
We are compensating the teachers involved. I feel bad because we all trusted this person based on past experience. Lesson learned. Thank you for your additional comments. BTW we are seeking others who may have been damaged by this person and if we can find enough we will file against them. The problem is they have gone "dark" and finding them will not be easy.
That's criminals - They have a habit of running once they've grabbed the cash.
I know you have his name so the police are your best bet (if they're any use in China - I have no clue as to that)
Won't help to try to do this in China, the only hope is to find him in SA and proceed. Long shot but who knows.
Wow, that sucks that Cambridge won't even post a notice about it. Goes to show some institutions care more about the money than the people.
qieziman wrote:Wow, that sucks that Cambridge won't even post a notice about it. Goes to show some institutions care more about the money than the people.
The university, or at least Cambridge University Press, would have to post hundreds, maybe thousands, then the fraudulent companies would simply change their name.
That's assuming anyone read the notice before they handed the cash over. After all, Cambridge post a complete list of partners so it isn't hard work to find out if a place is a scam.
So, in my opinion, it doesn't suck - Just some people can't be bothered to see if they're being scammed or not - Sort of their fault really, and not a lot to do with Cambridge as they've already done their bit by posting a complete list of approved centres.
However Cambridge could go after them instead of doing nothing...just my 2 cents.
I'm not sure what a DELTA is?
To be fair TESOL, TESL, CELTA's, TEFL's are all a bit of a scam. There really isnt any central accreditation body that can be contacted to verify authenticity, unlike university degree's (as far as I know). For use in China the only requirement is that the job seeker have the original paper copy, and in addition has the document apostilled (or authenticated depending on country of origin). Thats it.
The certificates are only needed for job applicants in China that have less than 2 years of documented teaching experience.
I'm not sure what a DELTA is?
To be fair TESOL, TESL, CELTA's, TEFL's are all a bit of a scam. There really isnt any central accreditation body that can be contacted to verify authenticity,
-@hiverelo
It's clear you don't know.
CELTA and DELTA are (if real) good to have to prove you are a qualified teacher of English and especially for someone whose BA or MA was not in English or Education. In China both are good to have now if you don't possess a BA or MA in English or Education, however if you do have those degrees you don't need anything more than a TESOL or TEFL, unless you have a teaching certificate then you don't need those. It is getting much harder now to be unqualified and teach in China, about time if you ask me.
CELTA and DELTA are (if real) good to have to prove you are a qualified teacher of English........ It is getting much harder now to be unqualified and teach in China, about time if you ask me.
-@lrai
To the first - Yes, they are accepted qualifications in most countries.
To the last - China has pulled an absolute flanker over the last 20 or so years. They realised the need for English speakers so they made a bunch of rules, then totally ignored them in favour of getting started.
Now they're to a point where they are producing home grown teachers, they're starting to enforce the rules more.
The 'about time' is actually part of the plan.
Love or hate the Chinese government, the way they operate is stunning.
That s*** Irai, hope it works out for you and your teachers one way or another.
Dear Alnaz:
The rules changing are just a fact of life here and so it goes. It is harder now to get work visas for hiring new teachers but then training schools are in a difficult time due to new government regulations. We are being forced out and shut down, and only those schools who are stable to endure this latest mess will survive. Our school is over 20 years old and we are secure and weathering this latest assault. However would I encourage someone to come to China to work teaching English at this time, nah. There are other choices if you are a qualified teacher. I still need teachers but finding good ones now has not been easy. Our company which has never used "agency" teachers in the past, well now we have no other choice and soon it may be the ONLY choice left.
Fred: Yep stunning is a good choice of how to describe the government here!
Fred: Yep stunning is a good choice of how to describe the government here!
-@lrai
That's not quite what I said.
The way they operate is stunning, but I'll leave others to decide if they are stunning.
Even a brief look at the way they transformed education from a rubbish bin full of nothing into the first tool in their box of tricks to becoming the most capitalist country in the world is an educator's wet dream.
As for the rights, wrongs, and crappy geopolitics, I remain disinterested.
Fred:
How long have you lived in China? Just curious.
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