Letter Of Complaint From Pattayamail

[Buff-horns]

Teaching English in Thailand - A real possibility?

Editor;

I hope this letter may be of use to anyone thinking of teaching English in Thailand. I can personally refute claims of guaranteed work or assistance to find a job at the end of the courses advertised for foreigners teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) in Thai schools. Once my course was completed it was thank you bye-bye.

Some courses even claim that you can earn as much as the cost of the course during training. This confuses me a little because as many expats, especially bar/restaurant owners will tell you, the Thai authorities are very strict when it comes to working without a work permit. There are tales of owners being prosecuted because they were secretly caught on camera for as little as lifting a cup or glass from a table in their establishments.

In order to legally teach English in Thailand the first pre-requisite is that you need to have a university education with a degree qualification (B.Sc. BA etc). Having this you then need to successfully complete a TEFL course recognized by the Thai Ministry of Education. Once this is completed you then need to find a job as a teacher (not so easy as made out to be) and your prospective employer will issue you with a letter of intention to employ you.

With these documents you can now apply to the Thai Ministry of Education for a Teachers License and then apply for a work permit and working “B” visa. Some schools, but not all, will assist in this process.

I therefore fail to see how you can earn money as a trainee teacher, not only because of the legal standpoint but I find it hard to believe that cash strapped schools are going pay good money for unqualified trainee teachers.

Giving the benefit of the doubt, let’s say they do have schools that are willing to pay for inexperienced and as yet qualified teachers and they somehow wrangle a legal loophole as far as earning money without a permit is concerned; just how much do their trainees on average actually make as they never say you definitely will earn while training but only that you “can”? So if you really can do the course effectively for free then why not - “Wao” as they say.

However, what are the real prospects of getting a job after training? Before 3 years ago when I completed my course the Thai government was talking of putting a native English-speaking teacher in every government school, as they noticed that Thailand was well behind its SE Asian neighbours in terms of English speaking proficiency. Unfortunately, due to money or politics this has never come to be.

Also, there have been many of these TEFL courses (businesses) set up all over Thailand over the past years and hence churning out potential candidates every few months and the supply of TEFL teachers now far outstrips demand. Most of the few jobs available seem to be in the Bangkok area or bahn nork (remote locations), but there are little in Chonburi/Pattaya, and due to the oversupply, the schools, rightly so, are asking for years of experience as well as the qualifications for what they consider to be a good salary. A foreigner may hope to earn between 20000-50000 baht depending on experience and location compared to 6000-10000 baht for a qualified Thai teacher, so the schools understandably want value for money.

So we have a “Catch 22” situation for the newly qualified TEFL teacher - can’t get a job because of lack of experience and can’t gain experience until you find a job. But heh! don’t let old cynical me put you off, if you are really determined to teach English and are not too bothered about the location then carry on, but don’t believe everything you hear, or even take my word for it. Before you part with your cash on course fees, check out your prospects first at www.ajarn .com (ajarn is Thai for teacher/lecturer). I wish I had known of it before I enrolled; I could have saved the 40000 baht on course fees and books and not bothered. This website is the best insight into teaching English in Thailand and advertises nearly all of the teaching vacancies in Thailand.

H. Leslie

PS - I gave up looking for a job a long time ago. But then again maybe I’m not so determined or willing to leave my luvly Pattaya / golf.

[Buff-horns]

upping the ante: CMU trains foreigners to teach English

Peter McKenzie-Brown

There is a huge need for foreigners fluent in English and qualified to teach that language, says Dr. Matthew John Kay of Chiang Mai University’s new language institute. Schools are having trouble filling positions. There are more jobs than qualified teachers. To help meet demand, in November the CMU institute will launch a certificate program to qualify more foreign teachers for the local market.

TEFL manager Dr. Matthew John Kay and Language Institute director Sansanee Wannangkoon.

According to Kay, the Chiang Mai economy is growing in ways that simply require English. We live in an expanding tourist center. There are many foreign-owned industrial plants here, with foreign managers. And our export business is critical, whether in widgets or village crafts. To compete with our Southeast Asian neighbours, we have to develop better local skills in the English language. It’s that simple.

CMU created its language institute nearly two years ago to help meet that seemingly insatiable demand for better language skills. Today, the institute offers a dozen English courses for Thai students. It also offers programs aimed at English-speaking foreigners. The first course into the classroom was Survival Thai for Foreigners – a 50-hour course for beginners priced rather attractively at 90 baht per hour.

But the big enchilada of the institute’s new offerings for farang is its Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate program. The course is aimed primarily at foreigners who want to teach English in Thailand. Taught to a university standard, the program requires fluency in English and spotlights common teaching issues encountered in this country. It does not, however, require a university degree. This means enrolees should check their personal qualifications against Thailand’s work permit requirements before signing up!

According to language institute director Sansanee Wannangkoon, the course will be gruelling. Says she, You have to think of anything that involves 120 hours of structured learning and training over a four-week period as a short-term, full-time job.

Offered each month, the course will include 60 hours of class work on teaching theory and practice. Another 60 hours will go toward practicum – observing an English class for Thai students, preparing class plans and helping conduct the class. And then there is the homework: besides studying their course books, students will write reports and take a final exam. Gruelling is the word.

At 45,000 baht, the course is slightly less expensive than the other certificate program in Chiang Mai. It gets better, chimes in TEFL Manager Matthew John Jay, whose irrepressible enthusiasm makes the program sound like the best thing since tom yum gung. The course fees include all teaching materials and a catered coffee break. Real coffee!!

For Thai educators, the issue of English skills in Thailand still rankles. A few months ago, the media covered in gruesome detail the state of English in this country. An authoritative study of the countries of Southeast Asia had found Thailand near the bottom of the heap – ahead of Cambodia and Laos only. As a result, the Taksin government upped the ante in the language sweepstakes.

To increase English skills throughout the country, the government laid out a number of initiatives. For example, it proposed new incentives for teachers who are Thai nationals to improve their English. In addition, the government is encouraging secondary (mathaym) schools to hire qualified native-speaker teachers. Says Jay, English teacher salaries at government schools in the Chiang Mai area can start at 25,000 baht per month. Private language schools sometimes offer more, but they don’t often offer fulltime jobs.

More information: 0 5394 2655 and 0 5394 2656; www. licmutefl.com; or licmu@ Chiangmai.ac.th

******************************

[Nam Kao]

>>>Says Jay, English teacher salaries at government schools in the Chiang Mai area can start at 25,000 baht per month.

WOW 25K / month

whoa dude thats kickin!

[mijan24]

In order to legally teach English in Thailand the first pre-requisite is that you need to have a university education with a degree qualification (B.Sc. BA etc). Having this you then need to successfully complete a TEFL course recognized by the Thai Ministry of Education. Once this is completed you then need to find a job as a teacher (not so easy as made out to be) and your prospective employer will issue you with a letter of intention to employ you.

Do you have a reference that supports these statements?

Edited October 14, 2005 by mijan24

[mbkudu]

All of this article is a bunch of nonsensical hype.

[Ijustwannateach]

It would be nice to see a linky to that article in the OP, first of all, just so's we know it's not one of those nasty little anti-TEFL school trolls with an axe to grind (although I'm soooooo suuuuuure it's not). It would also be useful to find out what school specifically the poster is referring to. Furthermore, most journalistic sources will require complaints of this sort to publish a verifiable name or at least give the school/business a right of reply- in order to avoid charges of libel.

As it stands, without citing a specific school as having broken a promise or putting forth a real, contactable name- it's just so much hearsay doodoo.

Mijan- it is *not impossible* for someone without a degree both to find a job and obtain a work permit completely legally for teaching TEFL in Thailand. It's more difficult than if they had a degree, but not against the law across the board.

[mijan24]

It would be nice to see a linky to that article in the OP, first of all, just so's we know it's not one of those nasty little anti-TEFL school trolls with an axe to grind (although I'm soooooo suuuuuure it's not).  It would also be useful to find out what school specifically the poster is referring to.  Furthermore, most journalistic sources will require complaints of this sort to publish a verifiable name or at least give the school/business a right of reply- in order to avoid charges of libel.

As it stands, without citing a specific school as having broken a promise or putting forth a real, contactable name- it's just so much hearsay doodoo.

Mijan- it is *not impossible* for someone without a degree both to find a job and obtain a work permit completely legally for teaching TEFL in Thailand.  It's more difficult than if they had a degree, but not against the law across the board.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ijustwannateach that's my point the OP has stated - and I quote In order to legally teach English in Thailand the first pre-requisite is that you need to have a university education with a degree qualification (B.Sc. BA etc). Having this you then need to successfully complete a TEFL course recognized by the Thai Ministry of Education. Endquote

KK has posted numerous times on this very aspect and I am interested to see if the OP has a reference that has not been aired previously.

Most of the OP's post flys in the face of what is considered to be the everyday situation in Thailand.

[Big Tony]

The letter is in this weeks www.pattayamail.com

[kenkannif]

Yes, lots of wrong info in the OP....doesn't seem to know what he's on about.

[ProfessorFart]

I have applied for many jobs in the past few months and I have stressed that I am not willing to take a TEFL and spend around 600GBP as during the course of my degree I took 2 units (2 years worth) of Educational Theory.

I am having no shortage of good offers so I hope that a TEFL is not compulsory in order to teach as I really don't want to waste a month's possible holiday time before I start.

There seems to be a little confusion in this issue. I'll do a search directly after this post but as I'm here now I'll ask if anyone can clarify this anyway.

Edited October 18, 2005 by ProfessorFart

[kenkannif]

Easy....some schools do or think they need you to have a TEFL....some don't.

You'll find a lot of the language schools do.

But it's easy to get a job without one often, but you might need one for your TL....but then again you might not.