Can I Teach Legally Without A Bachelors Degree?

[scrat]

Hi all,

I'm from England and have been teaching English in China for 2.5 years and decided to move to Thailand and hopefully continue to teach.

I do not have a bachelors degree but I do have a TEFL certificate and a Chinese Foreign Expert Certificate which is effectively a teaching licence for China.

Is it possible to use my TEFL certificate, Foreign Expert Certificate and experience to work legally?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks!

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[Mario2008]

Your options will greatly depend on how the Teachers Council of Thailand will look upon your Chinese license. You might be better of to email the Teachers Council of Thailand.

Whitout it being recognised you could still work, but will basically be limted to language schools and such. For a Thai license or waiver a bachelor degree is required.

I hope tha other with more knowledge about these kind of things will give you better advise.

[scrat]

Many thanks, Mario. I will e-mail the Teacher's Council, asap that's a good idea. Hopefully some further info will follow from other users.

Thanks again!

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[Trembly]

Your options will greatly depend on how the Teachers Council of Thailand will look upon your Chinese license. You might be better of to email the Teachers Council of Thailand.

Whitout it being recognised you could still work, but will basically be limted to language schools and such. For a Thai license or waiver a bachelor degree is required.

I hope tha other with more knowledge about these kind of things will give you better advise.

The TC recognise Cameroonian teacher's licenses so I would expect that they would recognise Chinese ones too . . .

[Mario2008]

The title is Foreign Expert Certificate, which makes me doubt. But the only correct answer will come from the TCT.

[Trembly]

The titel is Foreign Expert Certificate, which makes me doubt. But the only correct answer will come from the TCT.

Indeed, but in my experience, things can be explained away quite favourably ("oh, that's just what they call teacher's licenses for foreigners in China") if you meet the right interviewer!

Edited January 9, 2013 by Trembly

[Scott]

If you had a Bachelor's degree and a Teaching License, you should have few problems, but with only the TL and no degree, I suspect it might not be approved.

I am aware of teachers who did not have a degree in education, but did have a degree, and had a provisional, or temporary, or emergency license from another country and they were given TL in Thailand. I haven't run across it recently, but we will have a new teacher starting in a few months who has this situation and I will let you know if he gets a TL in Thailand.

[DILLIGAD]

Are not the circumstances different if teaching older students in a Uni with regard to having a degree ?

[Scott]

The Bachelor's degree is basically needed to get the Teacher's License, which is not required for Universities, as well as some other schools.

[Phatcharanan]

The title is Foreign Expert Certificate, which makes me doubt. But the only correct answer will come from the TCT.

I worked in Tianjin (PRC) for two years. The FEC is basically just a document that allows you to work legally in China, nothing else.

[Trembly]

The title is Foreign Expert Certificate, which makes me doubt. But the only correct answer will come from the TCT.

I worked in Tianjin (PRC) for two years. The FEC is basically just a document that allows you to work legally in China, nothing else.

So it's just a PRC WP then.

[youreavinalaff]

I mentioned something on another thread about this. It seems that some people that are going for a second waiver are getting them despite the lack of a Degree of any kind, but they are currently studying for one.

Is there some kind of grandfathering going on for those already in the system?

[harrry]

I understand that a batchelor degree is not required sor the licence if you have 10 years teaching experience.

[Scott]

I am pretty sure that is not correct. People who started before a certain date (2003, I believe) and had a Teacher's License at that time have been grandfathered through. In theory, they were supposed to have a degree, but the MOE was much more lenient and a number of people who didn't have degrees were given a TL based on education they thought was equivalent to a degree. The equivalency on some of those people would not hold up with the Teacher's Council now.

[brucetefl]

The Chinese teachers license is required for all teachers in China just like the teachers license is supposed to be required in Thailand. it will probably not be considered the equivalent of a degree or "real" teachers license unless the TCT is not paying attention that day.

[NoshowJones]

Your options will greatly depend on how the Teachers Council of Thailand will look upon your Chinese license. You might be better of to email the Teachers Council of Thailand.

Whitout it being recognised you could still work, but will basically be limted to language schools and such. For a Thai license or waiver a bachelor degree is required.

I hope tha other with more knowledge about these kind of things will give you better advise.

Yes, you can work legally in Thailand, but it would be very hard to work legally in Bangkok, that is with a work permit, you can work up country legally, I know, I did it for three years until two years ago, and it was perfectly legal, the school got me a work permit quite easily, but the pay is a bit less than you would get in Bangkok, also, be aware that the rules for teaching are changed quite regularly.

[NoshowJones]

I mentioned something on another thread about this. It seems that some people that are going for a second waiver are getting them despite the lack of a Degree of any kind, but they are currently studying for one.

Is there some kind of grandfathering going on for those already in the system?

Yes, there seems to be, one of the teachers at my school has not got a degree, he is studying just now in Bangkok to get one. but keep in mind, a teachers looks and age are more important than his ability to teach, and If you make a point of keeping the kids happy, that is very important when it comes to renewing your contract.

[NeverSure]

I don't have a degree. I've been offered a job as a teacher's assistant at a very rural school in very Southern Isaan for next year. My Thai friend is the head of that school. She says she can get me a WP but even if she's right I wouldn't give up a retirement visa for it.

She tells me she knows of not one NES who's teaching English in her area. She knows of not one farang teaching in the whole province. That doesn't mean there aren't some, but she's unaware of any.

A Thai teacher teaches English now, and that teacher can't even speak English. She learned it at a University from Thai teachers. She can read and write English quite well for a second language. Actually, English is farther down the list because she grew up there and speaks Khmer/Thai, Khmer, "Bangkok" Thai and very little English.

Before they got this "English" teacher my friend taught it, and she also reads and writes fairly well, but can't really speak or understand English well. She's never had an NES teacher, except for a short while working on her master's.

I've been offered 25,000 bht x 12, would "assist" the Thai English teacher who I'm told would almost never be in the room.

She's convinced it's legal. I don't know. I don't want the job so it's moot, but she'd hire me.

Flame away. I don't know the rules.

[Mario2008]

The question is if you will get a work permit, so you can you can work and will immigration also accept it without a teaching license or waiver. The first years shouldn't be a problem, as you could get a wiaver for the teaching license anyway.

However, it will mean going from staying on an extension of stay based on retirement to an extension of stay based on working.