Offering Tefl Courses At Our Hotel

[simon43]

The recent political problems in Thailand and the general global recession has spurred me into thinking of ways to attract more customers to our hotel at Phuket Airport, especially during the quiet low season. I'm sure that tourist arrivals will be greatly reduced next year and I need to respond to this situation right now!

One idea that I have is to offer a TEFL certificate package, where the students follow a 160-hour TEFL course that is taught on our premises, and use our accomodation, restaurant etc. An attractive all-in package price could be offered.

Here in Phuket, I'm also aware of the lack of existing TEFL courses. EEC offers them, but the other course providers on the island have recently had some problems, closing their premises or failing to provide certificates to students upon completion of the course. So there should be a good demand for an alternative course provider.

In order to run an accredited TEFL course, does one have to meet the same requirements as for opening a language school? (ie - Principal is a Thai national with Masters degree, school licence etc?).

I can certainly find a qualified TEFL teacher to run the course, but howabout obtaining accreditation for the TEFL certificate that would be awarded etc?

Is it a can of worms and not worth pursuing??

Thanks for any advice

Simon

[Chang_paarp]

The regulations could be a killer. Getting a certified outcome that is recognised ouside your hotel could be the challenge.

Why not try to hook up with an existing school and use your place as the venue and let them worry about the certification and such.

[torrenova]

If I was considering teaching English abroad, would I not just get the paperwork sorted out before I travelled ? I could then have some fancy and well recognised name on my certificates ?

At 160 hours, how many days tuition are you considering ? If 4 hours per day then you are talking about 40 days which is 8 weeks plus 7 or 8 weekends so a total of about 56 days ? I don't know how much you would charge someone for 8 weeks' accommodation but if it was Bt1000 a night (are you looking at including meals to bring business to any restaurant you have ?) then you are talking about B56000, plus food and if your rates were more than Bt1000 a day, then would people really pay near Bt100,000 for accommodation and then course fees ?

Of course, if you want them to study more per day then the total cost comes down.

If I wanted t study 160 hours, why would I stay in a hotel ? Why not just rent a cheap condo or room for a month or so ? I worry that if you reduce the effective daily rate so low as to attract custom, you will not have anything left in the kitty afterwards. Then if business picks up (generally), how do you turn off the tap for these cheap rooms when you need them for higher paying tourists ?

Great lateral thinking Simon. I just worry about the commitment side of things going forward.

[PeaceBlondie]

There are many variations, but the standard in the industry is 120 hours of classroom, and about six hours of supervised teaching practice. The sessions are usually 6 to 8 hours per day, 5 days a week. It is no small task, and requires lots of planning by people with experience far beyond having taken a TEFL course once, themselves. The main course instructor should have a DELTA or equivalent. You need to arrange with local schools for practice students. You need several qualified observers to evaluate the student-teachers. You need to meet all the legal requirements, or your competition will probably report you to the authorities.

[torrenova]

There are many variations, but the standard in the industry is 120 hours of classroom, and about six hours of supervised teaching practice. The sessions are usually 6 to 8 hours per day, 5 days a week. It is no small task, and requires lots of planning by people with experience far beyond having taken a TEFL course once, themselves. The main course instructor should have a DELTA or equivalent. You need to arrange with local schools for practice students. You need several qualified observers to evaluate the student-teachers. You need to meet all the legal requirements, or your competition will probably report you to the authorities.

Some very good points.

I would have thought though that 6 to 8 hours tuition a day was way OTT to be of any use except getting through a required minimum. I seem to remember that as one progressed through education, you actually studied fewer hours per week, but required more time to think about what you had learned and how you would put it into practice.

Are these "crammer" type courses just that ? cramming in 120/160 hours ASAP because someone, somewhere, has stipulated that a student needs to have completed that amount of time for accreditation ?

Another point I would comment on is the adverts for students to undertake these courses, sans accommodation where the competition seems to be on the lowest fees charged. i.e. it is price driven. Then, for the graduates, I understand salaries are often mediocre and thus, who would pay far more than necessary ?

[mrtoad]

There are many variations, but the standard in the industry is 120 hours of classroom, and about six hours of supervised teaching practice. The sessions are usually 6 to 8 hours per day, 5 days a week. It is no small task, and requires lots of planning by people with experience far beyond having taken a TEFL course once, themselves. The main course instructor should have a DELTA or equivalent. You need to arrange with local schools for practice students. You need several qualified observers to evaluate the student-teachers. You need to meet all the legal requirements, or your competition will probably report you to the authorities.

There's a lot more to setting up something such as this, without looking at regs. Sounds a good idea, proabably is a good idea, but.............

You should know the rest, just as anyone wishing to set up a biz.