Do English Teachers Require A Degree to Teach At Language Schools

[buckers99]

Hello everyone,

a simple question, do English teachers require a degree to teach at language schools to receive a work permit? Because I thought that all teachers need to have a degree in order to receive a work permit, but in a post on 10th November by madwee jock titled 'Have work permit but no degree', Mario2008 stated that teachers at language schools do not require a degree.

Is this correct?

Many thanks in advance

[Mario2008]

My statement is correct.

For a regular school you need a degree as you need a teaching license and for a (waiver of the) teaching license a degree is required.

For a language school no teaching license is required, thus also no degree is required.

Of course there are some labour offices that never the less require a degree. But in general you only indicate your highest education.

[casualbiker]

University and Colleges also do not require a degree (in theory) as you don't need a teaching license.

[SlyAnimal]

Correct, Language Schools & Universities don't require a Teacher's Licence, and so you are able to work there without a degree and still receive a work permit and visa extension based on employment.

However, universities generally only employ people who have either relevant experience or qualifications, thus it's often meant to be difficult to obtain a job at universities unless you have a bachelor or master's degree (So you can teach at a Uni, you just need to find one to accept you).

Language schools, from what I've heard, often don't provide a work permit, I'm not sure why this is, perhaps because of the ratio of Thai:Foreign staff, or maybe the cost/hassle involved, particularly as it's often a high staff turnover industry, but the teachers I know who have taught at language schools in the past, usually did so without a work permit. They definitely should be able to offer a WP + visa extension, I'm just not sure how many actually do (So you can teach at a Language School, you just need to find one that is happy to assist you with getting a WP etc).

[Loaded]

A MoE licensed non-formal school can provide as many work permits as it wants for its foreign teachers.

An unlicensed 'language school' usually provides work permits for its foreign teachers through its company. In this case they must conform to a ratio of 4 or 5 Thai staff to one foreign staff. However, they are not a school so must lie about the job description. If a 'language school' is unwilling to provide work permits for its teachers, its likely its not licensed as a school.

[Max2m]

#Loaded, is it legal then to hire several foreign teachers and provide them work permits as long as the non-formal school is MoE licensed, without needing a minimum capital and minimum number of Thai employees (ratio 1 to 4 Thai)?

And then does the school have to pay a minimum salary of 50000 baht, and if not what would be the minimum?

The teachers could be teaching any subject?

If you have more information on this subject I'm interested.

Thanks

[casualbiker]

There is no minimum salary for teachers

[Loaded]

#Loaded, is it legal then to hire several foreign teachers and provide them work permits as long as the non-formal school is MoE licensed, without needing a minimum capital and minimum number of Thai employees (ratio 1 to 4 Thai)?

And then does the school have to pay a minimum salary of 50000 baht, and if not what would be the minimum?

The teachers could be teaching any subject?

If you have more information on this subject I'm interested.

Thanks

If a company owns a non-formal school that is licensed by the MoE, it can employ as many teachers as it wants through the school and provide work permits and non-immigrant B visas.

A company without a school license needs to adhere to the Thai/farang employee ratio and pay tax on minimum incomes. These requirements don't apply to teachers employed through a licensed non-formal school.

[Max2m]

Great thanks for your answers.

Actually, what I read most of the time is that these conditions apply for English teachers, but does it also apply for other languages or subjects? Can a private language school hire with work permit a French teacher, a Japanese teacher and a Burmese teacher to teach their respective language? And if so, what are the requirements for them to apply for Non-B visa and work permit as teachers?

Does the rules on this "Teaching in Thailand" from thaivisa page still apply?

http://www.thaivisa.com/teaching-in-thailand.html

It says for example that a Teacher License is needed, but I read on other threads and websites that a teacher license is not required to obtain Non-B and work permit to work as a teacher in a non-formal licensed school.

Which one is correct? Will a teacher's license or a waiver be needed?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[gleeglee]

My statement is correct.

For a regular school you need a degree as you need a teaching license and for a (waiver of the) teaching license a degree is required.

For a language school no teaching license is required, thus also no degree is required.

Of course there are some labour offices that never the less require a degree. But in general you only indicate your highest education.

It may not be required by the school but it is required for your workpermit

[fxe1200]

University and Colleges also do not require a degree (in theory) as you don't need a teaching license.

In other words: You can be teacher in Thailand through the mercy of your birth.

As far I know "teacher" is not a legally protected occupation, just as the occupation "captain". You can call yourself captain, when you play with your toy boat in your bathtub.

Edited November 27, 2014 by fxe1200

[Mario2008]

My statement is correct.

For a regular school you need a degree as you need a teaching license and for a (waiver of the) teaching license a degree is required.

For a language school no teaching license is required, thus also no degree is required.

Of course there are some labour offices that never the less require a degree. But in general you only indicate your highest education.

It may not be required by the school but it is required for your workpermit

There is no official requirement to hold a degree in order to be issued with a work permit.

[The manic]

But to get a teaching certificate of any worth one usually needs a degree. And having a degree will help you get a better job with a better school and earn a better salary.

[attrayant]

So a degree isn't required - what about TESOLs and such? I had an email conversation with a recruiter from (I won't mention the name, but their location near me is on a small street) who wanted to hire me but said that my 60 hour TESOL cert was insufficient - it had to be at least 120 hours, otherwise I would not be granted a work permit. Here's the relevant bit from the email, which I still have:

Currently, to satisfy the requirements of the Thai Ministry of Education all our teachers must have completed a TEFL course of at least 120 hours (correspondence and online course are not admissible) including at least 6 hours of practice teaching with real students. We wouldn't be able to obtain a work permit otherwise.

Perhaps this is really the school's requirement, and they're just using the MoE as a scapegoat, or perhaps the requirement has changed since I had this exchange (April 2013)?

Edited November 27, 2014 by attrayant

[makkam]

They allow teachers of thai ( at a well known language school in pattaya ) to have no qualifications other than

- they're female

- they parrot parrots

- they formally worked as hotel receptionists or as beauticians

[The manic]

The 120 hour rule is about discriminating between valid courses run by valid examining bodies and cowboy qualifications run by cowboy schools. The 120 courses usually require the applicants to have a degree and are run, by and more importantly 'accredited' by the BC, IH, Cambridge University, Trinity House, IDP etc. If they are not accredited they are worthless in the real world. But you can teach in Thailand or Japan or Burma without WP or teaching cert but the real jobs need qualifications.

[attrayant]

Perhaps not a bad rule to apply to some raggedy foreigner who has just fallen off the turnip truck. But I thought it was ridiculous that they [the MoE, apparently] wanted me - a person with 15 years of teaching experience - to attend a 120 hour TESOL course so that I could get six hours of "practice teaching" under my belt.

Edited November 27, 2014 by attrayant

[The manic]

TEFL teaching is a highly specialised skill when done correctly and involves many techniques and methodological approaches not used by regular teachers. On my training course 20 years ago the two who failed were both teachers.

[attrayant]

TEFL teaching is a highly specialised skill when done correctly and involves many techniques and methodological approaches not used in Thailand.

There, I fixed that for you.

Edited November 27, 2014 by attrayant

[hhgz]

Just spitballing' here, but why not contact the school in which you're interested, and ask?

[Loaded]

The 120 hour rule is about discriminating between valid courses run by valid examining bodies and cowboy qualifications run by cowboy schools. The 120 courses usually require the applicants to have a degree and are run, by and more importantly 'accredited' by the BC, IH, Cambridge University, Trinity House, IDP etc. If they are not accredited they are worthless in the real world. But you can teach in Thailand or Japan or Burma without WP or teaching cert but the real jobs need qualifications.

The BC doesn't accredit any TEFL course. It recognizes several though including Trinity TESOL and CELTA.

IH is a commercial organization that operates franchised CELTA courses.

Cambridge University doesn't accredit any TEFL course. One of its commercial arms, UCLES, owns CELTA and franchises this to other commercial organizations such as IH and ECC.

I've never heard of Trinity House. However, Trinity College accredits Trinity TESOL courses.

IDP, although a partner of the BC and UCLES, doesn't operate TEFL courses. It's well known for English language teaching and IELTS testing. The 3 commercial organizations that own IELTS are the BC (most countries no longer allow it 'charitable' status), UCLES and IDP.

CELTA, Trinity TESOL nor any of the other TEFL courses require a degree as a minimum qualification.

You can't teach legally in Thailand without a work permit. You normally need a degree to obtain a work permit.

Edited November 27, 2014 by Loaded

[dodojero]

Actually teachers in language schools neither need a teaching license nor a TEFL certificate. Doing the TEFL is just a good training for inexperienced teachers. But of course to work as a teacher and to get a work permit you need a proof about your highest school education. The reason why language schools don't want to provide a work permit is, that many teachers don't stay long enough in the same city or the school isn't sure of being able to provide enough teaching hours to the teachers to make them stay long enough. A teacher schould be able to teach a minimum 4-5 hours per day, then a WP makes sense for the school. If you seriously want to work as a teacher, then find a reliable school which will do a work permit for you, just to protect yourself. Don't take the risk of getting trouble with the immigration. How to know which school is reliable and serious? Ask here on TV. I guess, here are many farang teachers all over the country who can share their experiences.

[The manic]

The 120 hour rule is about discriminating between valid courses run by valid examining bodies and cowboy qualifications run by cowboy schools. The 120 courses usually require the applicants to have a degree and are run, by and more importantly 'accredited' by the BC, IH, Cambridge University, Trinity House, IDP etc. If they are not accredited they are worthless in the real world. But you can teach in Thailand or Japan or Burma without WP or teaching cert but the real jobs need qualifications.

The BC doesn't accredit any TEFL course. It recognizes several though including Trinity TESOL and CELTA.

IH is a commercial organization that operates franchised CELTA courses.

Cambridge University doesn't accredit any TEFL course. One of its commercial arms, UCLES, owns CELTA and franchises this to other commercial organizations such as IH and ECC.

I've never heard of Trinity House. However, Trinity College accredits Trinity TESOL courses.

IDP, although a partner of the BC and UCLES, doesn't operate TEFL courses. It's well known for English language teaching and IELTS testing. The 3 commercial organizations that own IELTS are the BC (most countries no longer allow it 'charitable' status), UCLES and IDP.

CELTA, Trinity TESOL nor any of the other TEFL courses require a degree as a minimum qualification.

You can't teach legally in Thailand without a work permit. You normally need a degree to obtain a work permit.

Thanks for that clarification. It is detailed and correct. I was too lazy to do it all myself.

[Petchou]

Since they can't teach home without a degree why wouldn't they here. I think they should all go through criminal check as for any foreigner coming to live in Thailand to deter those running from justice, sexual molesters and sick since it appears there are so many hiding here.

Being Europea, australian or north american doesn't mean an angel neither clean. The facts are here.

[The manic]

My understanding is that reputable schools require a Police clearance certificate for WP issue from the country of origin/residence and and any country of recent residence. But it is a fact, that over the last 20 years, there has been a troubling infiltration of the TEFL world by predatory homosexuals using the informal lesson structure of TEFL to gain access to young, immature men and boys. Unfortunately police criminal record checks will not expose such people if they originate from the USA, the UK or most of Europe.

[attrayant]

What about the predatory heterosexuals? I guess they're okay?

[The manic]

What about the predatory heterosexuals? I guess they're okay?

Because of the widely available pay for sex scene in Thailand it is a lot less of a problem. Predatory heterosexuals can go to the entertainment areas and pay less than the price of seduction. Also once the management structure of a TEFL school has been infiltrated by homosexuals they tend to only recruit their own. That being said: the TEFL gays gravitate to the Middle East where lads are plentiful and though homosexuality is illegal it is accepted and ignored. For many Gays in the Middle East the lads are a perk of the job which make life bearable. But the heterosexual males teachers in the middle east cannot partake of the local girls.And as the history of the bath house scene in New York and the West Coast has shown in countless studies homosexuals have more predatory energy than heterosexual men and can take part in and are inclined to take part in many more sexual encounters than heterosexual men and women, though I suspect you may be too naive to really know about such matters. Good luck with your next TEFL posting. I hope my comment has been of use to you.

[attrayant]

Your comments are... interesting, to put it delicately. I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[The manic]

Your comments are... interesting, to put it delicately. I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Arf Arf. You are!

[brewsterbudgen]

Since they can't teach home without a degree why wouldn't they here. I think they should all go through criminal check as for any foreigner coming to live in Thailand to deter those running from justice, sexual molesters and sick since it appears there are so many hiding here.

Being Europea, australian or north american doesn't mean an angel neither clean. The facts are here.

There is no requirement to have a degree in order to teach TEFL in the UK, or other western countries.