Foreign Teachers: Thousands To Be Recruited

[PeaceBlondie]

The pay in Chiang Mai is lower than Bangkok. When I was job-hunting in CMai last month, I knew enough to refuse 200 baht per hour for part-time. I'm getting gigs that pay about 275 and 300. Of course, housing costs are lower. Likewise, it's even lower for salaries and housing in the villages. CMai has too many retirees like me who don't need full-time supporting income.

If you have to make annual trans-global visa runs and frequent local visa runs, that can run 50,000 to 100,000 per year.

People think salaries have increased in several places in the past two years, by maybe 5K per month (and fewer contracts of 10 or 11 months). But forget about saving money.

You can check the job ads on dave's eslcafe, ajarn dot com, etc.

Edited June 10, 2005 by PeaceBlondie

[Jack Jones]

This was posted on the Ajarn jobs page today. Is this part of the recruitment drive?

'MIDDLE OF JUNE, We are assigned to screen and place around 50 teachers in Nontaburi area all applicants and Nationalities (Not Thai) are welcome to leave a resume and photo to our mail box. All applicants will be trained and granted a certificate from the Ministry of Education that certifies them as qualified Teachers. No Celta, Tofel or other certificates are needed, A GREAT CHANCE for a non native and native English speaker with out all qualifications to get a good starter in teaching in Thailand.'

[kenkannif]

Did you cut and paste that Jack? As it looks like the Ministry got TOEFL wrong

[PeaceBlondie]

I can't make out what that ad is - whether it was placed by a recuiter or agent for foreign teachers, or it's an ad by a school that will train you to be TEFL-certified (though it seems to refute that). I think it's saying he'll get you a teacher's license from the MoE - but he seems to be casting his net very broadly, openly saying you don't need any qualifications, no mention of your academic background or degree, doesn't need a TEFL cert - can my teen-aged grandchild apply? He doesn't even say the ones who pass screening get this training and certification; just ALL APPLICANTS. Let me send an e-mail to my granddaughter who turns 14 next month.

That ad was not written by a native speaker.

[george]

Up for grabs: 1,000 teaching posts in southern border region

PATTANI: -- Teachers in the southern border region have recently been the target of violent attacks, while schools have been razed by separatist insurgents. But the Ministry of Education is hoping that it will be able to attract 1,000 teachers to new posts in the southern border provinces, to make up for the current teacher shortfall.

Mr. Sunant Thepsri, director of the ministry’s education liaison office for the three southern border provinces, revealed today that the application process for the new positions would be launched this month.

The teachers will be asked to work in schools currently facing teacher shortages, often because they are remote or thought to be particularly at risk from insurgent attack.

Despite the attacks, the Ministry of Education insists that no more teachers than normal are making requests to be transferred outside the region, and that transfers cannot be blamed for teacher shortages.

According to Mr. Sunant, morale among teachers in the region remains high, although teachers have been urged to always travel in groups, to help prevent militant shootings.

--TNA 2005-06-12

[IsaanAlex]

Up for grabs: 1,000 teaching posts in southern border region

PATTANI: -- Teachers in the southern border region have recently been the target of violent attacks, while schools have been razed by separatist insurgents. But the Ministry of Education is hoping that it will be able to attract 1,000 teachers to new posts in the southern border provinces, to make up for the current teacher shortfall.

Mr. Sunant Thepsri, director of the ministry’s education liaison office for the three southern border provinces, revealed today that the application process for the new positions would be launched this month.

The teachers will be asked to work in schools currently facing teacher shortages, often because they are remote or thought to be particularly at risk from insurgent attack.

And then this.

Despite the attacks, the Ministry of Education insists that no more teachers than normal are making requests to be transferred outside the region, and that transfers cannot be blamed for teacher shortages.

According to Mr. Sunant, morale among teachers in the region remains high, although teachers have been urged to always travel in groups, to help prevent militant shootings.

OMFG, you've got to love this Alice in Wonderland stuff.

Sure. No one's asking for a tranfer. Everyone wants to move there. Pass the butter.

Edited June 12, 2005 by IsaanAlex

[sriracha john]

Just wondering if this has anything at all to do with the shortage of teachers in the South:

Thai boys stop to look at their school building, which was ravaged by an arson fire a day earlier in southern Thailand's Yala Province on May 16, 2005. More than 600 people have died since January 2004 in nearly daily gun-and-bomb attacks blamed on Muslim militants by the government. REUTERS

[spencer]

Believe it or not Spencer the pay is pretty much the same as your were offered 6 years ago-minus the housing. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So you are saying that the pay is getting lower because they are not including rooms any more and the cost of living is higher. Pretty sad.

[Jack Jones]

Did you cut and paste that Jack? As it looks like the Ministry got TOEFL wrong

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cut and pasted from the Ajarn site. Where do I sign-up, I'm fully qualified for that role?

[PeaceBlondie]

I've bumped up this thread that started in May to prove a point. Many of us, in the midst of 128 replies, said that it would never happen. We could post something similar on the news clippings thread, general topics, gays in Thailand, women's thread, etc. The government issues an announcement which we farang take seriously, whereas Somchai out on the soi knows that it is just propaganda. Go way back to some of the older news announcements on those threads, two or four years back, and see what I mean.

Don't we know better than to trust politicians and governments to tell the truth, or do the right thing? Ignore them. They often lie. If Thailand changes to any significant degree, it will be because those in power decided it, not merely because the farangs commented a thousand times on thaivisa.com/forum. However, hopefully, the assistants who advise the sub-managers of the assisstant chiefs to the permanet deputy ministers may read these posts, so let's keep posting.

[mijan24]

About the same time as the OP's post appeared in the press there was also another announcement of an agreement between Australia & Thailand on a "new 1 year working visa" arrangement for fresh graduates. Limitations were continuity (3 months in any one location) etc

I seem to remember it being aired on TV and one kind respondee compared it to "Pi##ing in the wind" and without being rude or crude the same applies again.

One poster mentioned monies - Mr Toxin has just spent 11 million baht on the inaugral flight from North Bangkok to South Bangkok.

Yet no monies seem to be forthcoming with these Edn releases obviosly no (P) mileage to be made - another Edn Min coming up = talk about dead end jobs this ministry takes the cake.

Also the latest: Up for grabs: 1,000 teaching posts in southern border region and:

"Plan to hire 50,000 new teachers gets nod" This is not Native or English specific.

All this adds to the workload at the MoE and keeps the Minister in the NEWS.

Edited September 30, 2005 by mijan24

[simon43]

Without trying to lower the tone of this thread, there is only one sure-fire way of getting 10,000 applicants eager to work in these primary schools:

'10,000 teachers wanted!! Pedophiles welcome!!'

(:

Simon

[wilko]

Without trying to lower the tone of this thread, there is only one sure-fire way of getting 10,000 applicants eager to work in these primary schools:

'10,000 teachers wanted!! Pedophiles welcome!!'

(:

Simon

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Pedophile - someone who loves feet?

[bannork]

Without trying to lower the tone of this thread, there is only one sure-fire way of getting 10,000 applicants eager to work in these primary schools:

'10,000 teachers wanted!! Pedophiles welcome!!'

(:

Simon

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Pedophile - someone who loves feet?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Impossible for a foot lover to get a job in Thailand Wilco; as I'm sure you know the feet are considered the dirtiest, as well as the lowest, part of the body here.

It must have another meaning.....

[wilko]

Without trying to lower the tone of this thread, there is only one sure-fire way of getting 10,000 applicants eager to work in these primary schools:

'10,000 teachers wanted!! Pedophiles welcome!!'

(:

Simon

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Pedophile - someone who loves feet?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Impossible for a foot lover to get a job in Thailand Wilco; as I'm sure you know the feet are considered the dirtiest, as well as the lowest, part of the body here.

It must have another meaning.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep! that's what I suspected

[mijan24]

It's going to be interesting to watch this project develop (or fizzle).  There certainly are some problems to overcome.  Here's some comments:

1.  The gov't will have to issue visas and work permits for this.  It's the law.  You cannot legally do volunteer work without a work permit.

2.  Other than not wanting to corrup the Thai culture, I can't think of any positive side to moving them around.  Even if the gov't wants to move people, they can be assured that there will be enough culture-shocked foreigners that want to move that keeping a teacher in one place is going to be difficult. 

3.  The whore-mongering foreigners shouldn't be too much of a problem.  They won't have much luck in the rural villages.

4.  A degree is a good starting place.  Yes, lots of great people don't have one, but it's difficult to do the intense interviewing/training of personnel.  Believe it or not, it's not all that easy to teach people our language--we know it, but there is a lot about the language that we don't understand.  Some type of certification should be the bottom line. 

5.  It's good that the country is at least thinking about education and helping those up-country students who don't have much a chance.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good to see someone posting positively about this serious situation!!

[Artisi]

I haven't been following this thread all that closely - but it seems this is where it all started hppt://www.obec.go.th