English teachers from India and Philippines coming here soon?
Both the Post and the Times (front page no less) had stories today about some savvy middlemen bringing English teachers over here with low salaries (NT$20,000 per month, which is high for India and Manila) in order fill vacancies and needs in Taiwan kindergartens and buxies.
Was this news on TV and in the Mandarin papers here?
And if they do come over, what impact will they have on teachers already here, who are making much much more and won’t settle for less?
Both stories on the Times and Post websites. LOOK!
Comments?
I myself think it would be cool to have some Indians and Filipinos and Filipinas here teaching English, too. Why not?
Employment agencies have begun recruiting English teachers from the Philippines and India, but the Ministry of Education said it will not accept bringing in teachers from these countries.
[ FULL STORY ]
Agency sources were reported as saying the teachers they want to recruit all have university degrees and teacher’s certificates and expect monthly salaries of between US$1,000 and US$1,200.
Their European and American counterparts command monthly salaries of between US$2,000 and US$3,000.
Seems you’ve answered your own questions – the employment agencies don’t formulate government policy, as far as I’m aware. And what is the story, anyway? “Want to recruit” or “are recruiting”?
Hi Sandman: the newspapers say ARE RECRUITING right now and bringing them over after CNY to begin teaching. Middlemen. Capitalism. Free country. Supply and demand. Entrepreneurs.
Sounds like these tosser agencies might be getting those $$$ signs in their eyes, but how could the ministry of education give them permission to work here when the law says that they are not qualified to teach English here on acount of their country of origin?
Are they going to stay in the airport for 6 months while the DPP and the legislature fight over this?
And while we’re at it, the middlemen can also bring over good teachers from Nigeria, Kenya, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Colombia, Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Make it a real UN of English over here…
According to the TT, the agencies “have begun recruiting.” Later in the same article, it says “the teachers they want to recruit.”
Anyway, the TT states categorically in its lead that the MOE has already said it “will not accept bringing in teachers from these countries,” so that seems to be the end of that.
Sandman wrote: “Anyway, the TT states categorically in its lead that the MOE has already said it “will not accept bringing in teachers from these countries,” so that seems to be the end of that.”
BUT it was not clear: does this mean they can’t teach in that new proposed teaching program called TET or JET or NOT YET… or that they can’t teach at all anywhere?
Is there some law that says someone cannot teach English here due to their skin color or nationality or accent? No way. An Indian teacher can surely come here and try to find work. Why not?
[quote]Is there some law that says someone cannot teach English here due to their skin color or nationality or accent? No way. An Indian teacher can surely come here and try to find work. Why not?
[/quote]
The law is that to work legally, an English teacher must possess a passport from what the government considers to be a native-English-speaking country. It lists the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand in this category. (I might have missed one or two, but neither India nor the Philippines are included).
No argument from me on that score, but it doesn’t alter what I said, or the illegal nature of what these brokers would like to do/are certainly going to be prevented from doing.
Conceptually, it makes perfect sense to ban India and the Philippines even though English is one of their native languages. I mean, if they let them in, then what about Singapore or Malta? Or what if Taiwan declares English to be a second official language–would that make all the Taiwanese native English speakers?
The MOE also needs to add another level to the screening process, to weed out non-natives (or those with non-native accents) who happen to possess UK, US, Canadian, or Australian passports. The most reliable method would be to evaluate according to physical appearance or surname.
[quote]The most reliable method would be to evaluate according to physical appearance or surname.[/quote]But by doing that, you’d still have the French speaking Canadians teaching wouldn’t ya?
Legal or no, qualified and competent or no, there is still the small matter of Taiwaners having preconceived ideas about what an English teacher looks like.
I’ve worked with Afrikaaners and French Canadians who were competent enough and looked the part in the eyes of their employers. I’ve also seen a Bangladeshi, who happened to have a British education and accent similar to my own, be turned around without even an interview or chance to demo.
He didn’t fit the image. English teachers are white (or black). People with brown skins and Asian features are ‘labourers’, manual workers brought here to slave in factories and hiring them to teach English is a horrifying thought to a lot of Taiwanese - apart from the ones who have Philipino maids to babysit their toddlers in English of course.
