Teacher's Licence

[gemmamccarron]

A fellow teacher at my school has been advised that there is some sort of internal dispute at the MOE and for now, and the forseeable future, the MOE will not be issuing TL's. As a result, he cannot get his old one renewed or get a new visa extension and has been advised to go to Laos and return on a tourist visa until this dispute is resolved. Does anyone have any information or knowledge regarding this?

[Loaded]

Teacher Licences are not connected to your visa. Work Permits are. Shouldn't be a problem. Who advised him to go to Laos?

[Petch01]

A fellow teacher at my school has been advised that there is some sort of internal dispute at the MOE and for now, and the forseeable future, the MOE will not be issuing TL's. As a result, he cannot get his old one renewed or get a new visa extension and has been advised to go to Laos and return on a tourist visa until this dispute is resolved. Does anyone have any information or knowledge regarding this?

Are you saying that your fellow teacher can't teach anymore because he/she will lack a TL, thus a WP, thus a visa extension?

Did the MOE say that they will not issue TL's anymore because that is delegated to another entity?

I don't understand it? Please explain.

Petch01

[gemmamccarron]

The school advised him. I'm not sure about the status of his WP but i know his visa extension is valid until the expiry date of his TL, as is mine.

[gemmamccarron]

Ok to clarify...... the school has told him that the MOE are NOT authorizing any TLs until 'the internal dispute' is resolved. His visa extension expires (and TL) on this coming Thursday so the school has said they cannot renew his visa without a new TL. They have advised him to go to Laos and come back on a tourist visa until the MOE start re-issuing TL's again and then they can sort out his visa. They also told him that many schools are being affected by this.

It doesn't smell right to me, thats why i'm asking if anyone knows anything about this?

[alaina]

Sadly, the school is telling the truth as my licence renewal and a few others at my school are also caught up in this mess. The "dispute" started in December sometime and there are no answers as to when this will be resolved (unless you count a Thai clerk saying, "Soon.")

The WP does depend on the licence and so Non-I-B's for teachers cannot be extended until this is cleared up. Nobody seems to have any idea when "soon" will be and until then, we are SOL. I was thinking of getting a few people together to write to the Nation and Bangkok Post about this but I'm not sure if the MOE responds to looking like fools in the press as they are probably quite used to it.

[mopenyang]

Where in Thailand is this happening? Which MoE office is involved?

[gemmamccarron]

Where in Thailand is this happening? Which MoE office is involved?

We are based in Bangkok but i'm unsure if that is the only MoE office involved.

[PeaceBlondie]

Sometimes when a Thai clerk says "soon" they mean "zero." Or, never, or "I have no idea." Roughly equal to the Mexican "mañana".

[wangsuda]

And the paranoid part of me is thinking that this is the first step taken to rid Thailand of the pesky guavas (farrang) that are not wanted. Sorry, back on topic. I hope this is cleared up soon, as I am due for renewal soon. If I have to leave, then I leave for good.

[mopenyang]

Where in Thailand is this happening? Which MoE office is involved?

We are based in Bangkok but i'm unsure if that is the only MoE office involved.

Thanks.

Has any teacher actually contacted MoE directly and attempted to clarify and verify the situation?

Edited January 19, 2008 by mopenyang

[otherstuff1957]

The school year is almost over, so very few schools are hiring now. In April, this could turn into a real problem, but if this is really happening now, there really won't be much pressure on the MOE to resolve it.

[alaina]

Where in Thailand is this happening? Which MoE office is involved?

As far as I am aware, the MOE is based in Bangkok but is a national ministry. So, this effects all of Thailand. Teachers licences generally expire (some people got lifelong ones a while ago) in three years on a person's birthday.

[Petch01]

I think the whole thing has to do with the transition of MOE to the Teachers' Council of Thailand regarding issuing teacher licenses. Of course the employees of MOE behave reluctant to give good information as they see their long-time job vanish.

I foresee that within weeks teachers will be redirected to the TCT for the TL-application. There, two kinds of licenses will be issued. A permanent TL and a temporary TL. The first one for those who meet the TCT-requirements. The second one for those who yet meet the requirements. The latter will be given time to meet the requirements. I guess probably 18 months. One things stands and that is that all teachers should have at least a Bachelors Degree.

Petch01

Edited January 19, 2008 by Petch01

[Loaded]

Where in Thailand is this happening? Which MoE office is involved?

As far as I am aware, the MOE is based in Bangkok but is a national ministry. So, this effects all of Thailand. Teachers licences generally expire (some people got lifelong ones a while ago) in three years on a person's birthday.

Regional offices interpret 'rules' differently. Chiang Mai MOE hasn't made TLs compulsory yet although some schools push their teachers to obtain.

Why's your TL/WP expiring now? Normally, it's the end of the academic year.

[Ijustwannateach]

If this is really true, it will be a BIG problem for (primarily) private schools, including the TRUE BLUE international schools.

If they can't keep their act together even for the most highly qualified teachers in the land, they truly don't deserve any of them.

[alaina]

If this is really true, it will be a BIG problem for (primarily) private schools, including the TRUE BLUE international schools.

If they can't keep their act together even for the most highly qualified teachers in the land, they truly don't deserve any of them.

Loaded,

My TL expired on my birthday, about three years after it was issued. I asked our paperwork clerk and she said that the TL's normally expire on teacher's birthday. So for my birthday this year the MOE has given me the gift of working illegally, yeah

Ijustwannateach,

I am a certified teacher with a BEd and this does not bode well for my future in Thailand. Our school has been able to get all sorts of things done like flipping tourist visas and 30 day stamps into Non-I-B's without blinking and this time I saw the frustration of our visa clerk for the first time. She stomped into the building after having three teacher's licence renewals now declared, "pending" and said, "I hate the Thai government." Yes, she is Thai.

Edited January 19, 2008 by alaina

[russell362002]

And the paranoid part of me is thinking that this is the first step taken to rid Thailand of the pesky guavas (farrang) that are not wanted

Things seem pretty confused down south at the moment as well. Clearly something did happen in December and it seems folks that normally are aware of what is happening just don't seem to know. I'm guessing that it is related to the "provisional" nature of the folks in power at the moment.

[Petch01]

Fake

[Somtamnication]

Mine was renewed this week. It expired this month. My bday is in February. Phuket. As another poster stated, these regional offices interpret rules different. Familiar with that scenario with another famous Thai govt. office?