As the title says, I got interviewed by TFETP for an English teacher position but was just told today that they won’t be proceeding with my application. No explanation given, but I suspect it’s because I asked to be placed only in Taipei or New Taipei.
So now that that’s happened, what’s another way to get a public school job? Could I just start sending emails out to principals and see what happens?
We can’t see your resume so we can’t really know. There may be a pachyderm in the room.
Fair. I mean, I can’t see anything wrong with my resume as such; I work in a public school right now and have a license, so in theory I’m who they’re looking for, but apparently not.
Are you presently certified in your home state/ country?
?
However you might be right, as the program as I understood it, is geared toward getting certified FET into underserved rural areas.
In San Xia, there’s an elem. school, Long Pu, and there is a foreign teacher who seems to work there FT. Clearly NOT underserved rural kids.
So, there might be another way. 
There’s also recruiters and some public schools have been doing their own recruiting. I’ve seen postings on Facebook groups and tealit. There’s also some private schools recruiting as well.
Give tealit a look
I’ve applied directly to schools for all my jobs in public schools, though I don’t know what kind of restructuring took place when the FET program became the “TFETP” program in ~2020.
I am indeed. But yeah, one of the questions they asked me during the interview was “if you already have a stable life in New Taipei, why do you want to join our program?” Makes me think the program wants to send people to the boonies.
Thank you, I will do that. Appreciate your advice.
I am pleased to inform you that you already have the job you are applying for. Congrats!
Why would they recruit you for the job you already have? By hiring you in one school, they would just be creating a vacancy in another. That doesn’t really help them.
If you’re not happy with your current school and wish to teach at another, then just apply directly.
I’m a bit confused about “acceptance” into TFETP.
When I worked in public schools, I was an FET automatically just by working in the public school as a foreigner with a teaching license. So if OP is already in a public school, they should be an FET already? That’s what all my contracts said — “MOE FET program in xyz county”
Also, I remember being at an FET conference and everyone from Taipei and New Taipei was in a different program than people from anywhere else. So again, not sure what the restructuring situation is, but it’s possible TFETP doesn’t manage Taipei and New Taipei. I have to assume everything is still under the MOE, but it’s never good to assume logic when talking about Taiwan.
Also, consider your education level and years of recognized experience. I’ve had (public) schools straight up tell me they can’t afford to hire me because they’d only applied for funding for a new teacher with a BA. If you have a few years under your belt and/or an MA, you’re going to run into this issue even if you’re some famous YouTuber who takes kids in super rural places and makes them into magically fluent English machines — every NT they need to put towards you is less money for them to spend elsewhere.
The 2024 program expressly makes allocating teachers to remote schools a priority. See this slide in a presentation given to schools that want to participate. There are important equity considerations in this. Your request to be in Taipei/New Taipei was probably a red flag that you are not the kind of teacher they are looking for.
You could just read their introduction page. Kind of explains it all. 
Well, actually I do have a reason! In a nutshell, their contract requires the same amount of work from me but comes with airfare allowances, a better rental stipend, and a higher salary than the one I am getting now. (In fact, my contract says I should get paid according to their rate, but the local accountants office have flatly refused to give me many benefits in direct violation of said contract…)
I appreciate your response, and you make a good point about salary- I might be more expensive than they were hoping. As far as what you said about FET, I think that’s all changed now that the FET program has chaged into the TFETP one.
I find this hard to believe. What clauses in your contract do you think entitle you to these benefits? I suspect that schools in the north do not give the same benefits in their contracts because they understand well that some teachers will sacrifice to stay in the north for whatever reasons.
The part that literally says “Party B (me) shall be paid at a rate equivalent to the TFETP program”.
The idea of the program does mostly seem to be sending teachers to the boonies where most newcomers don’t want to go. I applied for the teaching assistant role (no cert required) and got placed in Taichung, which seems to be one place they need more foreign teachers (?). Quite a few of us, many of which - despite excellent English - were not native speakers. Not that I care about that, but speaks a bit to necessity.
I’d say that given you already have a job at a public school in Taipei, why would they place you at a public school elsewhere in the same place, especially given that Taipei seems to be fairly saturated with foreigners. Plus, they can save 15k by placing some unlicensed inexperienced dope like me there.
Now that sounds about just right 
So are you not paid that amount?
What benefits does the contract say you have that you are not being given?
Come come Mr Bond. Sometimes I can walk five minutes and not see another big nose. (If I only look at the pavement).
I did read it. My point is that if OP is already in a public school, they’re already in the TFETP program, even if they didn’t apply directly to the TFETP program in the beginning. So I don’t get how the TFETP program can “not proceed” with the application. Not willing to find a placement in the place OP requested, sure, but if OP is already in a public school, they should already be “in”.