Working in sarasas witaed Ratchaphruek school

[36goose]

Has anyone worked there and Thier honest opinion of working at this school.

Edited January 13, 2016 by 36goose

[bangmai]

Looks like it is near the Tiger/Heineken Brewery in Nonthaburi. I would first read up on the Sarasas Schools...probably 12-20 of them. Ome of them was kind of legendary. A farang teacher actually got a stroke of the cane across his calfs for talking during an assembly. The wrong place to work for 35K; you would be much better off in Isaan, even for a bit less.

[thesetat2013]

I worked at Sarasas witaed Thonburi. The Sarasas Witaed are typical semi private schools. Lots of rules and regulations for teachers and they had many unqualified and then illegal non natives teachers as well. It took almost 6 months for them to process my work permit and that was with my harassing their main office and threatening to quit. In the schools I knew teachers at as well as my school the teachers were treated like crap and the director was no good. Their previous director was taking money from salaries of foreigners and lying to them about their actual income and when it was found out she just transferred to save face. Expect fines for breaking their rules. Whatever you do I would not suggest you take their housing offered. Forced sharing and poor accommodations. I quit after a year and was happier.

Edited January 13, 2016 by thesetat2013

[otherstuff1957]

There are about 20 Sarasas schools. Each is administered separately and some of them have terrible reputations, while others seem to be ok. Try to get feedback about that particular school as info about the other schools in the chain will not necessarily be relevant.

[aidenai]

There are about 20 Sarasas schools. Each is administered separately and some of them have terrible reputations, while others seem to be ok. Try to get feedback about that particular school as info about the other schools in the chain will not necessarily be relevant.

There are about 40 of them. All family business. Philosophies are the same all over. They are all MBFO.

[36goose]

Thanks for the info. Don't think this is 1 of the better one's.

[ldiablo]

Do they make the whole school do the 2 step every morning to Billy Ray Cyrus. They do at the one in Thanyaburi.

And they march to it's a small world after all. What a joke.

Edited January 15, 2016 by ldiablo

[Scott]

I've met and worked with a lot of teachers who have worked at a number of the Sarasas Schools. As stated there are nearly 40 of them now (I believe they are building # 38 in Surat Thani). Some teachers have left and then later returned because the greener pastures weren't quite as green as they imagined.

As stated, there is a lot of variation from school to school, depending on the administration. Some provide housing and most provide a housing allowance, if they don't have housing available. There is a fair amount of freedom in allowing foreign teachers to live outside the school housing, but usually Filipinos are required to live in the housing.

I know one former teacher who worked for the school you mentioned and he seemed to think it was a reasonably good school. He left and worked at 3 other schools and said that what he didn't like at that school was simply replaced by a different set of negatives at the other schools.

I have also met a couple of current teachers in a social setting, but we didn't talk extensively about their experience. They didn't express any major negatives.

I would suggest trying to meet some existing staff at the school who can give you better insight into the working situation.

[jacky54]

Are they all catholic schools? one near us is, they even have an African working as a cleaner so their employment rules seem a bit dodgy. Kids seem happy enough though.

[Somtamnication]

Are they all catholic schools? one near us is, they even have an African working as a cleaner so their employment rules seem a bit dodgy. Kids seem happy enough though.

Well, happiness does not equate good education or good employer. I seldom hear anything positive about them.

[DavisH]

I won't say much, suffice to say there is no entry standard for the (high school) students in the school mentioned in the OP. That has a major impact on teaching and is one of my major gripes, especially when schools refuse to address the issue of students who consistently fail every subject every year. There are other better schools to work at.

[lostinisaan]

I worked at Sarasas witaed Thonburi. The Sarasas Witaed are typical semi private schools. Lots of rules and regulations for teachers and they had many unqualified and then illegal non natives teachers as well. It took almost 6 months for them to process my work permit and that was with my harassing their main office and threatening to quit. In the schools I knew teachers at as well as my school the teachers were treated like crap and the director was no good. Their previous director was taking money from salaries of foreigners and lying to them about their actual income and when it was found out she just transferred to save face. Expect fines for breaking their rules. Whatever you do I would not suggest you take their housing offered. Forced sharing and poor accommodations. I quit after a year and was happier.

Already enough information to look for a "better place."

[thesetat2013]

Do they make the whole school do the 2 step every morning to Billy Ray Cyrus. They do at the one in Thanyaburi.

And they march to it's a small world after all. What a joke.

Heheee they did the same when I worked at Thonburi.

[jacky54]

All down to this bloke then, does not look 79, maybe old pic

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Sarasas-stays-top-of-the-class-thanks-to-its-visio-30232353.html

[Scott]

The owner is Catholic, I believe, but the schools are not Catholic. The guy in the picture is not the owner, but I believe it is his son. At least according to the article.

[Anonymous000]

There is no AirCon in the classrooms and the doors are required to remain open, so then every room is very loud because the students non-stop talk. The school employs maybe a couple hundred teachers, there are many rules for the teachers, the foreign teachers are treated like foreigners. In general, to me, the school seemed to be a money focused (get kids into English program), and does not value teachers. The kids are very very rude and majority of them are not interested in learning, but rather talking and goofing off. Many of the teachers I spoke with were not happy at the school either. It was a real stressful experience for me.

[jacky54]

Sports day on the 20th School asked for food and drink donations from the parents, seems a bit much considering the fees

[millwall_fan]

A friend of mine has his son at one of the Sarasas schools in Chiang Mai and he is happy enough with the education. I know an non-native-speaking chap who teaches at another Sarasas school and his English is far from fluent. i wouldn't want him teaching my child English!

[DavisH]

Sports day on the 20th School asked for food and drink donations from the parents, seems a bit much considering the fees

Can you divulge the fees here? It's quite common for parents to make donations of this sort. Not everyone, but a few. Or they set up booths to sell food to the kids on that day. Happens at my school.

[ldiablo]

The location in Thanyaburi got all the children in the school to donate 5 baht each so they could rent tents. The whole organization are cheapskates.

[jacky54]

I was told 40k a term for a 3 year old, seems rather a lot in Pra Samut Chedi

[onetime]

I spoke with a former employee last week. He said the director left and it's gone downhill. Her 3 letter name started with a B and ended with an M. He's at a different Sarasass now.

If you live at the school, they close the gate at 7 pm. People are climbing the fence to get back in after a grocery run. They nickle and dime you with cleaning fees.

Maintenance will enter your home when you are not there.

They feed you, but it's the same crap, day in and day out.

First year at the school, you do not get a paid summer. You have to work, or you do not get paid.

There is an American manager, who may or may not still be there, who told me that he conspired with the police to put someone in jail. The police put some yaba on a Thai. This was in his personal life, but to me that's a bridge you do not cross.

I'm trying to think of something good to say. Can I get back to you?

[Scott]

I spoke with a former employee last week. He said the director left and it's gone downhill. Her 3 letter name started with a B and ended with an M. He's at a different Sarasass now.

If you live at the school, they close the gate at 7 pm. People are climbing the fence to get back in after a grocery run. They nickle and dime you with cleaning fees.

Maintenance will enter your home when you are not there.

They feed you, but it's the same crap, day in and day out.

First year at the school, you do not get a paid summer. You have to work, or you do not get paid.

There is an American manager, who may or may not still be there, who told me that he conspired with the police to put someone in jail. The police put some yaba on a Thai. This was in his personal life, but to me that's a bridge you do not cross.

I'm trying to think of something good to say. Can I get back to you?

Some half-truths. I don't know this school, but I do know some of the higher up admin from Sarasas school system. There are variables in how they are implemented. Some school housing does close the gate at a specific time. One school closes them at 10:00. A lot of the schools have housing not on the school campus and have no rules. Food at most schools is crap and I have eaten at a lot of different schools. Most pay a housing allowance to those that do not live in school housing.

Teachers get paid for summer school sessions. The first year you are required to do the summer session and then after that you may have to work or you may not -- it varies with different schools. Most give a bonus payment for those who have already worked, but the first year you work for normal wages only.

Some years ago the very higher-ups did away with foreign administration. There were only a couple of Heads of English Studies, or Foreign studies and one of them recently died. Some schools have a foreign coordinator, but they have very limited decision making power.

Some schools have a Mini-English component and some have an International Program. The IP usually has A/C in the classrooms.

If you can talk to any of the current teachers, you will get a better feel for the conditions. Most schools have positives and negatives. It's a matter of weighing those which are most important and getting a good fit with the school.

One of the problems of working in any Thai enterprise is that so much depends on personalities. You can do your job very well, but if they don't like you, your tenure can be short and miserable. Some directors and admin are kinder, understanding and empathetic. Others are mean-spirited and unhelpful.

[onetime]

I spoke with a former employee last week. He said the director left and it's gone downhill. Her 3 letter name started with a B and ended with an M. He's at a different Sarasass now.

If you live at the school, they close the gate at 7 pm. People are climbing the fence to get back in after a grocery run. They nickle and dime you with cleaning fees.

Maintenance will enter your home when you are not there.

They feed you, but it's the same crap, day in and day out.

First year at the school, you do not get a paid summer. You have to work, or you do not get paid.

There is an American manager, who may or may not still be there, who told me that he conspired with the police to put someone in jail. The police put some yaba on a Thai. This was in his personal life, but to me that's a bridge you do not cross.

I'm trying to think of something good to say. Can I get back to you?

Some half-truths. I don't know this school, but I do know some of the higher up admin from Sarasas school system. There are variables in how they are implemented. Some school housing does close the gate at a specific time. One school closes them at 10:00. A lot of the schools have housing not on the school campus and have no rules. Food at most schools is crap and I have eaten at a lot of different schools. Most pay a housing allowance to those that do not live in school housing.

Teachers get paid for summer school sessions. The first year you are required to do the summer session and then after that you may have to work or you may not -- it varies with different schools. Most give a bonus payment for those who have already worked, but the first year you work for normal wages only.

Some years ago the very higher-ups did away with foreign administration. There were only a couple of Heads of English Studies, or Foreign studies and one of them recently died. Some schools have a foreign coordinator, but they have very limited decision making power.

Some schools have a Mini-English component and some have an International Program. The IP usually has A/C in the classrooms.

If you can talk to any of the current teachers, you will get a better feel for the conditions. Most schools have positives and negatives. It's a matter of weighing those which are most important and getting a good fit with the school.

One of the problems of working in any Thai enterprise is that so much depends on personalities. You can do your job very well, but if they don't like you, your tenure can be short and miserable. Some directors and admin are kinder, understanding and empathetic. Others are mean-spirited and unhelpful.

Scott, I know this particular school. There once was a day when I was a teacher. (I needed a visa to tide me over until retirement age)

I've read some of the things you post about HR in Thai schools, and personally, I don't see how you do it.

Edited January 27, 2016 by onetime

[Scott]

Thanks. Some days it's an exciting challenge. Some days it's a major frustration. Today is the latter! But at least it's Friday.

[jacky54]

This is the one near us in pra samut chedi, not seen many foreign teacher but the sports one looked rather depressed in Dec! Ah some UK guys at 13 min cooking up the grub

Edited January 29, 2016 by jacky54

[jacky54]

if you want your kid to learn to dance this might be the place, first troupe are exceptional, some professionals could learn from those kids

[ldiablo]

This is the one near us in pra samut chedi, not seen many foreign teacher but the sports one looked rather depressed in Dec! Ah some UK guys at 13 min cooking up the grub

What the hell does putting together a lego set have to do with Mathematics?

Only at Sarasas would they think such a thing.

[jacky54]

well they have to count the bricks out

[ldiablo]

This is the one near us in pra samut chedi, not seen many foreign teacher but the sports one looked rather depressed in Dec! Ah some UK guys at 13 min cooking up the grub

Disclaimer:

All food and ingredients paid for by the parents of the students, as well as the Thai and foreign teachers.

All proceeds from the sale of said foods goes directly into the pockets of management.