Busted

What agency was the woman with, and what was her job title?

[quote=“Battery9”]

The woman assured me that the boss will be fined.[/quote]

You never did say this–Where is the woman from?

I hope that this works out well, Battery9.

Best of luck, and keep us posted.

My boss moved heaven and earth for me (and I wasn’t even busted teaching kindies, just working at another branch of the same school), even refusing to take my money when I offered to pay the fine which was levied on me (she paid it). I bought her a couple of good books from Page One.

I’m most definitely not going to feel assured until about 2 years from now!!! She is from the Labor Department…I can’t understand the Chinese, but the English says ‘Labor Department’.

I have an appointment with Joy Head Office this Monday, want to get as far away from little kids as possible!

Don’t they usually send police with them?

I was told that the police usually attend them in order to get them onto the premises without people putitng up a fuss.

I had the same problem at a school in Taichung… about 3 years ago now… I was registered at the anqingban and working at the kindergarten… There was a woman from Labour affairs office and several cops.

I refused to sign anything unless I was also given an English translation of what I was signing… anyway, haggling went on for a few hours, two other teachers signed and left while they continued to argue with me… I was adamant I was not going to sign… Anyway, after a while a policeman who spoke remarkably good English told me that it did not matter really if I signed l signed or not as the outcome would be the same regardless… in the end I got fed up and signed…

I was assured that I was not in trouble per se… but that I could be if they decided that was the case… They said my boss was in trouble and would be fined…

3 years later I am still here and working at a High school… my situation may be slightly different as I was on a JFRV at the time… but I did sign ad nothing happened to me or the other teachers that signed (not JFRV’s)…

Anyway, I would be very interested to know how much of the so-called “fine” went straight into their pockets… I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the whole thing is just a case of… “Look, we’ve gotta do this paperwork here and make it look like we are doing something… but honestly we don’t really care, and my kid learns English at your school too! So you just scratch my back a little and I’ll scratch yours, ok?”

Cheers and best of luck… hope all turns out well for you.

Daryl

Oh I’m sure they took some of the money. The whole interview was in English…she wrote the questions she asked me down in English, and then wrote my answers in English…I could go through it afterwards and then sign it.

It was basically a written warning saying that I did teach at the kindergarten, but also at the anchiban…and that my boss gave me the job, and that I had no idea it was illegal…but that I now know…

I’m fine, just got my ARC renewed (it was being processed by my boss at the time of the bust) and I’m teaching at the anchiban…will be changing jobs soon and my boss is going to help me with the transfer of the ARC etc.

It’s really heartening to see that your school did the stand-up thing and that the government officials dealt with this in an understanding way.

It’s also nice that the statement was done in English.

This goes on the “warm and fuzzy” side of things.

Battery9, I’m sure I speak for many of the expats and especially animal lovers here when I say that I’m very relieved and glad that it looks like things have turned out well for you in this case. Cheers!
DB

Yes, I am soooo happy that I get to stay! I even greet the cockroaches in the mornings now… If I had to leave suddenly I would have had a huge issue getting Sambuka to South-Africa!!!

I am really confused! Why is teaching little kids illegal? (forgive me for sounding so ignorant!) I see so many preschools/kindergartens in Taiwan, they are seem so legit… I send my own kid to Hess Kindergarten and they openly advertise having foreign teachers teaching 2-6 year olds. Are all the foreign teachers at my son’s preschool working there illegally?

Yes. Simply put.

Why is it illegal? Well, there are the unsound theories that it confuses children to learn in another language before mastering their own (next they’ll telling interracial couples that they’ll have to choose one language to use with their kids or else they’ll get deported :unamused: ). I think that sometimes the method of teaching young children only covers their language development, but not much of the other important aspects of learning such as gross motor skills, fine motor skills, self-help skills, social skills, and cognitive skills.

But this forum is full of stories where schools told their teachers that it was legal for them to teach their kindergarten kids when the truth was, they just wrote them down as working for the buxiban. And of the teachers who got caught when the government called on the schools.

Well, part of the argument is that having foreigners work at kindies takes work away from Taiwanese. There are many capable Taiwanese English teachers who can do an excellent good of teaching basic English to kindy-age kids.

Thanks for the explanation… but I am still confused! I looked up Hess Preschool’s website again and in both English and Chinese sections they clearly announce having foreign teachers teaching 2-6 year olds! The Chinese section is aimed for the parents of preschoolers, tryint to get these parents to sign their toddlers/preschoolers up for either all-English or bilingual programs. (And the website clearly points out having foreign instructors!). The English section is aimed for foreign teachers, trying to entice them to teach toddlers/preschoolers at Hess. It’s hard for me to believe schools such as Hess, which has so many branches and is pretty high profile, openly doing something illegal!

It’s these discrepencies between the law and practice that show how Taiwan is not fully developed as far as law, enforcement and peoples’ respect for the law are concerned. It’s more than a little strange that, in the presence of a law such as a supposed ban on preschool English immersion programs and bilingual kindergartens, there are very large companies advertising these services openly. Foreign teachers are not allowed by law to be employed in such places, but the law is not only ignored, it is openly defied with massive street-side banners featuring Foreigners as a commonplace sight everywhere. The kindergarten issue has gone back and forth in recent times. A couple of years ago, it was made legal for FTs to work in kindergartens. A few months later it was prohibited again. Few took any notice and I bet many didn’t even know it was made legal for that short time.

English kindergartens were again prohibited under the guise that these places supposedly were detrimental to childrens’ sense of cultural identity and mother tongue acquisition. Hogwash! Personally, I think the current regulatory environment of having a law on the books while the law makers themselves send their kids to these places suits those who would use the law for the purposes of corruption.

If they were serious about ending preschool English teaching, they could close the kindergartens tomorrow. They’re certainly not hard to find.

enatai wrote [quote]It’s hard for me to believe schools such as Hess, which has so many branches and is pretty high profile, openly doing something illegal![/quote]
It is indeed hard to believe but it’s the reality. I can only assume that Hess makes generous donations to police-related charities. :laughing: