New Employment Criteria for Foreign Teachers at Government Schools

[dakineto]

8 hours ago, ozmeldo said:

 

They get paid less because they're worth less - they accept it. 

They accept cos it's still more than they would get back home - if they could find a job there. Europeans also get paid less than NES by most schools. Passport rules!

[Mambowoman]

On 4/3/2019 at 1:44 PM, ozmeldo said:

It's quite possible that the Filipinos you were working with were on top of their game. Especially as they are teaching in China where NES are insisted upon so they'd probably had Education degree.

 

My experience has been the opposite. The students can't understand them, they constantly speak Tagalog in the office, their ouputs - writing and speaking are full of errors. They are known to teach not from the materials of the school but lessons that have been passed about, just random stuff, not matched to the grade. Sabotage efforts and speak negativity of those with "white skin". Far too much "free time" given to classes to literally do nothing but play and chat in Thai. Their vocab is weak. TOEFL scores are always below average. Filipino universities are horrible. I think only one has a QS ranking. Maybe that's changed. Finally, the complaining about salary. Men verbally abusing young Thai female students. This goes for those with "white skin" also, the 30-35k crowd. Don't go to a foreign country, sign a contract and then complain about the salary.

 

I have run into two exceptionally well spoken / written Filipino men. I've known some ok Filipino teachers in the classroom. Others that were well liked.

 

Yes, there are some horrible, lazy L1 teachers who are essentially functional illiterates, others and or substance and morals problems. That's a different kettle of fish. I'd fire 65% of this lot as well.

 

That's all I have to say on the matter. They get paid less because they're worth less - they accept it. Entirely their call as adults.

This is so true.

[sensei]

3 hours ago, Mambowoman said:

This is so true.

You can't and should not generalize from a handful of personal experiences. 

 

There are people posing as teachers here from all parts of the globe.

 

I have met some of the best and the most dedicated educators who really go out of their way to educate their students and those posers who are here to travel while teaching on the side.

 

 

[Isaanbiker]

On 3/12/2019 at 12:58 PM, Loaded said:

Good question. I don't know. However, I do know that school directors, the MoE and teachers have been frustrated by the TCT for many years. The TCT was set up in the 1990s to be independent of government influence; hence, even the Minister of Education cannot directly control them. In my opinion, I think the TCT may be removed from the foreign teacher process.

 

I'm not sure who will check qualifications and at what point in the hiring, non B visa application, visa extension and work permit process.

 

I did hear that the MoE wants to eliminate 'waivers'.

 

 

snip

Foreign teachers will now need a recognized university degree + vocational teacher training + evidence of their language proficiency if they are non-native speakers.

 

    I beg your pardon, wasn't that already the rule before that a teacher had to have a verifiable degree, plus transcripts? And isn't a TOEIC for NNES meant to check their English skills? 

 

   A very interesting post! Have you got any idea if they'll just continue with the TOEIC, or will CEFR take over? But the local teachers didn't really pass this examination and a weekend seminar conducted by a foreigner could hardly have improved their language skills. 

 

   Would the TCT, or Khurusapha ( it's not the MoE that issues waivers) eliminate waivers, how would they get enough teachers to cover all the positions?

 

      The idea to hire Asian teachers sounds strange, I know quite a few Asian teachers with a license who can hardly strick a sentence together. The sad part of the story is that the TOEIC result isn't needed when applying for a teacher's license. In other words, there are plenty of licensed teachers with a TOEIC result of fewer than 400 points out of 950, while some flight attendants need at least a score of 600 points to do their job. That's insanity pure, to be honest. 

 

   If somebody scores 400 points or less, he'she is considered a beginner of English. When you receive your score report, you also receive a certificate which can be one of 5 possible colours, depending on what your combined scale score for Listening and Reading is. The colour and corresponding scores are orange (10-215), brown (220-465), green (470-725), blue (730-855), or gold (860-990). Generally, a score range of 800 or more is considered advanced proficiency, 600-700 is high intermediate, 400-600 is intermediate, and less than 400 means the proficiency of a beginner.  Source: https://www.testden.com/toeic/score.htm

 

   How could such teachers educate M 12 students in an EP or an IEP set up with a Britsch curriculum? I'm certainly more than happy that I've got my teacher's license. 

 

     As a side note, all foreigners knew early enough that the TCT wanted to see educational improvement, be it in the form of a BA in education, or an additional Diploma. But too many foreign teachers were so sure that being an NES alone would be enough to continue teaching forever.

 

   Unfoirtabntely, coming from an NES country alone isn't enough to become an English teacher. But that's worldwide the case and not only in Thailand.

 

   There are certain things that make me wonder. All the new Thai teachers who'd started as trainees in 2019 must do a TOEIC examination, even when they teach PE in Thai, while the existing staff can continue with their Tinglish teaching.

 

   Thank you very much for your post. 

  

   

[Isaanbiker]

On 3/16/2019 at 8:16 PM, dinsdale said:

Don't know. It hasn't been implemented yet. Maybe it's going to be one those tests nobody passes after shelling out a shit load of money to conform to the insane <deleted> rules. NOT HAPPY.????

I've paid 55 K, could pay in monthly installments and there was no test at Khurusapha. Can you please post a link before others are scared to go that way? I had to have completed a full year at a school ( not 363 days!), some Thai colleagues had to write an evaluation about me, ( easy, only ticking some boxes) and that can be done in a day, or two. 

 

I needed signed copies of the licenses of three Thai teachers, and all was fine. "One of those tests nobody passes" sounds very absurd to me. The license was a few hundred baht only and is good for five years. Please post a link. Thank you very much. 

[aidenai]

I've paid 55 K, could pay in monthly installments and there was no test at Khurusapha. Can you please post a link before others are scared to go that way? I had to have completed a full year at a school ( not 363 days!), some Thai colleagues had to write an evaluation about me, ( easy, only ticking some boxes) and that can be done in a day, or two. 
 
I needed signed copies of the licenses of three Thai teachers, and all was fine. "One of those tests nobody passes" sounds very absurd to me. The license was a few hundred baht only and is good for five years. Please post a link. Thank you very much. 

Good to see you back.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[ozmeldo]

These new criteria. I don't see how anyone but L1 natives can for all intents and purposes meet this standard. In the best of public (/private) schools perhaps 15-20% are C1. Perhaps 750+ TOEIC. That's the best, after that the graph line would head pretty much straight down. I'm discussing English department as well.

 

The other issue brought up is the expensive of Cambridge exams and certification. I really can't see this as financially viable making less than 85-100k a month. Surely public schools won't pick this up. It would be first a kneejerk no, but after a few teachers leave after not being given large raises based on post-grad diploma, Cambridge certs and teachers license that will kill funding in the bathtub.

 

Cambridge seems to be all the rage now with international programs and ICGSE. They should run free classes. In fact, you have to wonder...I question their motivations of selling these packages without the teacher base maybe not certified but in some program working on it.

 

I don't see how this Cambridge thin can possibly work at any level of competence given the current pool of incountry teachers.

 

There's also a new Cambridge program I think agreed upon in OZ and UK which is accepted for teacher certification.

[ozmeldo]

On 3/16/2019 at 9:26 PM, Pravda said:

The country has no drinking water and worst pollution on the planet.

 

Talk is cheap.

I've been drinking the water in Bangkok for years. It might not be mountain spring water but it doesn't make me sick.

 

The pollution and particulate matter is way out control. One thing junta should be excellent in resolving post haste. That's exactly the purpose of juntas, to halt the excesses of the population.

[gunderhill]

On 3/16/2019 at 3:37 PM, StevieAus said:

I live we have great drinking water straight out of the ground and crystal clear.

Have  you had it tested, "clear" doesn't mean anything at all.

[Scott]

Please stay on topic.   The topic is about the quality of water.   There are other sub-forums for such discussions.