laurenrebecca

There is a way that TCT verifies your institution, but maybe not your individual degree. I am the coordinator for foreign teachers at my school, and have been instructed by both TCT and the Provincial Education Service Office to use a website through the workforce management. Unfortunately I am away from my computer so cannot give the address.

I have found that USA and UK universities have almost no issues at all. Philippines, South Africa and Camerron have significant issues though, as apparently one is able to "purchase" their Bachelors degree, and so TCT will not certify that university. It sucks for the people that worked for their degree....because I have not yet had a University certified for the Philippines and have had to turn away quite a few applicants because of it.

If there is a great shortage of native speaker TEFL instructors then the void will be filled by ASEAN. There are many, many teachers in Philippines or Myanmar who have excellent English language skills and who find the wage scale in Thailand quite adequate. 

HannahD, you are correct that there are MANY teachers from the Phillipines that would be willing to teach here.

 

Look at it from this angle though. I, myself am American, teaching in a VERY rural school in the north. We have a total of about 20 foreign teachers in the province. 3 at this school - 2 Americans and 1 Filipina. The other American and the Filipina are leaving at the end of this month (1 due to personal reasons, the other due to not having the correct education documents and being unable to obtain them for a teaching license).

 

I do the screening and background checks for all teaching applicants. I have over 20 applications from Filipinos on my desk right now, but cannot hire ANY of them....because of their degree. They all have Bachelor degrees (some even in Education), but I have to verify that Khurusapah (the governing body for teachers in Thailand) will recognize the degree through an online website. NOT ONE of my applicants has a degree that is certified as acceptable to teach in Thailand, yet my Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice from the USA, coupled with a TEFL certificate from England, is certified by Khurusapah. 

 

Sure, we pay the Filipino teachers less, yes they work hard, and in many cases their English is just as fluent as mine....but getting through all the loopholes to get them a temporary teaching license, appropriate Non-B visa and work permit are a HUGE undertaking and a major pain in the @$$.

 

There is going to be a MAJOR shortage of teachers in this country in the next 30 days.

 

For the record, my school does all the paperwork properly...I have a teaching license, Non-B multiple entry visa and a valid work permit. It is a hassle to get all of the documents and have it all done correctly, but nobody at this school is sweating the visa crackdown at all :)

I teach 23 contact hours a week, and have been asked to teach 2 hours a week to the Thai teachers for each of the last 3 years. The first year, about a dozen teachers showed up the first lesson, and by the 3rd we were down to 4. A moth later, I was in the classroom every Wednesday afternoon with nobody showing up. Second year, nobody showed up. This year, nobody has shown up yet, and we are now 6 weeks into school.

Unless the school director really keeps on the Thai teachers, they are not going to hold interest for long.....the teachers that want to learn usually ask me to give them a short lesson privately. This is not a problem, as they then in turn help me out whenever I need anything, or get told about meetings, etc.

None of the other foreign teachers at the school (1 american and 1 Filipino) get this from the Thai teachers. They are left alone, normally not included in extracurricular events, and not told about things that go on in staff meetings etc.....but since I bend over backwards to help the Thai Teachers learn English, they include me in everything...and I actually feel like I belong at the school, and not just a "farang teacher" who will last no more than a year.

Give the teaching a go. The benefits FAR outweigh the 2 hour weekly inconvenience.

As an English teacher, and having been here for over 2 years now, I can say that the system DOES need to be overhauled. However, making an Education degree a requirement is NOT the way to go. I myself do not have an Education degree. I have been teaching for a large amount of my life though in military, corporate and government settings. I do have a TEFL certificate.

By the standards that have been proposed, I will be out of a job when my extension of teaching license expires in 2 years, and will have to return to the USA. I have done continuing education, and I have also challenged the Thai teachers' test, passing 4 of the 9 sections. Now though, the test has been discontinued and there is no clear steps anymore for us to get a license other than to have the Education degree.

I agree that the backpackers with nothing to do that are just teaching to pass the time until the weekend should go. The teachers that are working on a tourist visa should go - the visa runs have effectively killed that now. But make all of us have an Education degree, and there are going to be NO teachers in this country inside of a year. Salaries are not competitive (out in the sticks in Phrae province, I make 30ish K Baht, and live comfortably, but near any city or tourist center it would be difficult to live on.

If the requirement for an Education degree goes into effect, a higher salary MUST be paid. End of story. I can't afford to go back to school on my salary to get my M. Ed. degree....so unless something changes I, too, will be leaving Thailand in 2 years.....even though my school has already offered to keep me on permanently.

I'm a girl but I've had people seem to want me to go hang out with them but not really be interested in talking to me at all hahhaa and they always want to take pictures with me for some reason.

Many times I've had strangers come up to me and ask to take a picture with me like I'm some kind of celebrity or something hahahaha

The funniest one was a girl using the excuse that she had to take a picture with a foreigner for her school assignment.

I've had the school assignment excuse tons of times...the first 2-3 months I was here it was daily!

I get it quite a bit, up here in the VERY rural north. Am 1 of 5 foreigners within 30km, and the only female. The teachers at school LOVE to take me out with them so that they can introduce their foreign friend to everybody. For the first few months it was cool to meet so many new people, but now over 2 years later it is just almost an inconvenience, especially when they want to go to Lampang or Nan....having to drive a few hours to get there.

Just had the aftershock here in Phrae as well. Only about 10 seconds, but had a little strength to it.

I don't know about Phuket, but I am a teacher at a government primary school way up north in Phrae, and we start classes on May 12th last I heard. Of course, until the day actually comes, that is subject to reconsideration.

There are many ideas on the table from what I understand that the present school year we are going into (2557-2558) may be drawn out a bit, and then have a bit longer break next summer.

Of course, since there may be new elections in a few weeks, and a new government possibly being installed, I'm not holding my breath on any of it....

You're on the right track looking at the Honda and Yamaha. Only potential issue you may run into is if you decided to trek into the hills, or make the trip to Nan. The roads get quite steep. If you are alone, no problem. If you are riding 2 people, it is going to put significant strain on the engine.

I live in Phrae (Song District...just a short distance from where you will be), and have an older police issue Yamaha 150cc 6-speed. I am a rather large person (80kg), and have overheated the bike riding from Phrae to Nan, a 2 hour ride through the mountains. If you are sticking to the streets or the occasional jaunt into Phrae, you are fine. Do Nan or Lampang and it may be a little more of an issue.

Just my 2 cents....

Should the allegations be true, I certainly hope he is placed with a cellie that will show him just how "fun" it is to be on the receiving end of a rape....repeatedly. Then threaten him with death should he tell the guards or anyone else.

And what makes you think he would not like that???

Andre0720 statistics. Just going on what I have learned in the past that most male pedophiles that prey on females / girls tend to be heterosexual and not homosexual. Granted, this information was learned at a University well known for its criminology and criminal justice research in the USA in the early 90s, but in my experiences before coming to LOS, it seemed to be pretty spot on for every occurrence I dealt with.

38, and going on 2 years in LOS. I teach Anuban 1 and 2, as well as Prathom 4-5-6. Been in the same school since I got here. Have a degree in Criminal Justice, and just a 120 hour TEFL certificate.

We have had 5 other teachers at this school since I started, oldest was 31 and youngest was a 19 year old intern. Only one of those teachers actually stayed a full term, a 25 year old from Missouri USA who just had a knack for the kids and the classroom.

Age is not going to be the deciding factor for wanting to teach. Your motivation and genuine want to share knowledge, as well as understanding of what you are teaching (knowing when to use an apostrophe, or the difference between their, there and they're). The job is difficult even on good days, but it is still the most rewarding and enjoyable job I have ever had. Probably won't ever leave this school.

There is quite a bit of overuse of white out, or "liqid" as my students call it, in my school. Desks tend to be painted with it, and for some reason occasionally more of the stuff ends up on the student than the paper. In the school I teach, students use pencil for Anuban, and then phase in pen over P1-P3, using only pen starting in P4.

I don't have an opinion either way whether they use it or just line out their mistakes. Have tried to get them to use pencil, but it has been met with quite a bit of resistance from both the students and the teachers. Pencils are for math class only, and for writing in the textbooks when you must make notes. That's it. I do make them use pencils on their written tests though to avoid the problem of constantly asking each other for "liqid" though...and that it is a multiple choice form test.

The biggest issue here now is that the students are using the stuff to write on the walls as graffiti....that is quite annoying to try and wash off!!

As a loyal consumer of these beverages, homemade and otherwise, in Phrae province, I think they are including the expats here...all 6 of us in the province!

Seriously though, it is a major problem up here....and considering the number of Whiskey distilleries in this province alone....it will not go away anytime soon.

It is easier to find whiskey around here than coffee...