I have a few friends that are coming here from back home. They would like to teach, but don’t have degrees. I was told here that they could simply give schools a fake degree (or a real degree changing the name). It sounds insane to me, but the guys who told me this have been teaching here for years and said they used fakes. Apparently from what they’ve said, schools here don’t even check or use the degrees. I have no idea as I’ve never taught English here. Is this true?
No, it’s not true. They know all the tricks with fake degrees and they do check. Schools might not, but the government does.
No.
And tell them not to be so stupid, dishonest and obnoxious. Taiwanese kids deserve better.
The government is checking very thoroughly now. I was told this a few times when applying for jobs from outside Taiwan.
You can teach English in China without a degree if you have a TEFL certificate or some teaching experience.
Thanks for the input, and I must say I hope I didn’t offend any real teachers by asking this. I’ve heard that many teachers here have used fake degrees, and I’m completely ignorant to the industry here since I’ve never been involved in it.
Even Thailand is checking now, and I have heard people typing up their own ‘degree’ and printing it out while waiting for job interviews there in the past.
Korea is very strict - you need a degree plus 2 x sealed transcripts from the university. I wonder if Taiwan will follow this rule in the future?
Japan is a mixed bag from what I have heard. Some schools will accept a photo copy while others do the whole transcript, phone call check etc…
it used to be easier, but they are very very strict now. They want the original or a very clear copy of the original with a stamp to show that the copy was done by someone other than you.
That’s true. Eight to ten years ago it used to be a doddle (apparently), but you won’t get away with it now!
[quote=“pubba”]Even Thailand is checking now, and I have heard people typing up their own ‘degree’ and printing it out while waiting for job interviews there in the past.
Korea is very strict - you need a degree plus 2 x sealed transcripts from the university. I wonder if Taiwan will follow this rule in the future?
Japan is a mixed bag from what I have heard. Some schools will accept a photo copy while others do the whole transcript, phone call check etc…[/quote]
This is interesting about Korea. They used to be very easy and I met many degreeless wankers when I was there–that was 96 or 97. I hear they are getting much, much stricter. Lots of new regulations–but I hadn’t heard of the need for 2 sealed copys of the scripts.
Tougher regs everywhere can only be a good thing for ESL–and for the degreeless wankers who will be forced to get on with their lives. (Meaning NO offense to the OP, of course, but really, simply being a native speaker doesn’t make you a teacher.)
Whereas being a native speaker with an arbitrary degree in anything at all does? 
Tighter regulations certainly isn’t a bad thing, but it’s only as useful as the regulations themselves …
Whereas being a native speaker with an arbitrary degree in anything at all does?
Tighter regulations certainly isn’t a bad thing, but it’s only as useful as the regulations themselves …[/quote]
No, I wasn’t trying to imply that, but yes–you have a very valid point, Brendon!
[quote=“Brendon”]
Whereas being a native speaker with an arbitrary degree in anything at all does? 
[/quote]
You do have a point, and my problem is more about lazy little wankers who lie and do things in Asia they wouldn’t do back home. Deception like that is not good for anyone, and it makes it harder for other teachers to get recompense and respect when they are not treated well by employers if newbs don’t act in good faith.
On the other hand, accepting that Taiwan can’t afford a legion of qualified native English speaking ESL teachers, is it too much to respect the government’s one pre-requisite? And what’s the cut-off point for that argument? High-school leaving certificates don’t make you a great teacher either. How else are people who may not speak English as a first language supposed to choose employees? The size of their ears?
I feel bad that I don’t have a TEFL or something similiar. But I think I’ve learnt more in my 8 years of teaching than I would have in such a course. I do think it’s sad that you need a degree to teach here. And that they are so specific…not everyone can afford Universities…or college. I don’t think it makes you a better teacher if you have it. But they have to have some restrictions otherwise everyone would come work here and our pay would be NT90 an hour.
Of course, but you’d have been a hell of a lot more effective for the first couple of years. You’ll also be fairly limited in career choices, if you stay in ESL but leave east Asia.
It’s not sad, B9: it’s the way of the world. People’s ability to pay doesn’t come into it. University doesn’t make you intelligent, but it does give you four years’ thinking, reading, writing and discussion on what you started with. Who wouldn’t want that for their child’s teacher? As for teaching adults, it’s also very difficult to credibly teach people who are more educated than you are.
oh…I do have a University degree…I actually have the original one that I take in every year to photo copy:) Weird though…we had an ARC turned down because of a copy, so the boss asked us all to bring in our degrees…and everyone had some excuse or story. University closed or blended with another university bla bla bla. I couldn’t believe it…
I am very happy that I finished my degree…people do look at you differently don’t they…
Sorry, I didn’t mean you specifically, B9, and no offense meant to anyone else, either. My point was that even if people don’t agree with the rule, people shouldn’t lie to get access to kids. It’s not a good thing to do.
It’s true in Taiwan, but I don’t know how many.
chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2008 … t-fake.htm (News in English)
chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2007 … %25-of.htm (News in English)
epochtimes.com/b5/5/6/12/n952521.htm (News in Chinese)
a lot of people here are living proof to the contrary.
Here’s the thing, there are regulations but they aren’t enforced. It’d take maybe one phone call and a google search to verify degrees on the part of the MOE. Don’t hate the players, hate the game.
Personally, now I’d like to get in on the enforcement part of it, but I’d doubt the MOE or FP would be buying into it.
I’ve long thought there should be a career for some of us (under the employment of the MoE) to go sniffing out the unlicensed buxibans, fake degree people and all that. A professional grass so to speak.