Hi guys, i helped create this petition for English teachers (both public school teachers as well as cram schools) to be issued special landing permits for the school year. If you believe in the cause would you please consider signing it? A similar petition eventually lead to students of Chinese being granted special entry permits so clearly this kind of thing can work.
I don’t think Taiwan is looking to allow more teachers in atm. They let the students in because they pay a pretty penny for university admission. I don’t think there is a teacher shortage in Taiwan to be honest.
2 Likes
That doesn’t make any logical sense. No new teachers can enter and many teachers have left and are leaving. If there can not be new teachers there will be a teacher shortage. This is especially true for certified teachers at the public schools
1 Like
They might need certified teachers for public schools, my friend runs a private school and he had tons of applications from teachers sent to him the other day. Doesn’t look like a shortage.
And it might be good for teachers salaries to let these businesses hurt for once. They may be forced to up their crappy wages instead of simply waiting at Taoyuan for the newest plane of FOBS to arrive. Plus if it really starves them out they will put pressure on the government to provide financial support for foreigners in the future so they don’t all fly out again. The government didn’t really think that one out as foreigners bailed quick.
3 Likes
People still apply when they aren’t in the country. Besides based on the sheer number of cram schools who put their name on the petition already, there is clearly some shortage. Besides private schools typically pay more and have always been competitive. So it stands to reason they would be the least impacted.
which cram schools are signing the petition? the ones that nobody wants to work at?
im ok with those places closing their garbo level programs.
If your school has a DECENT reputation, you will find people to hire, many schools in Taiwan are circus centers for gorilla suit entertainment.
1 Like
I get you want higher wages but i don’t think this is a very effective way to do this. Your wage may increase but it’s likely they will also dump a larger number of students into classes. This is already a problem, now just imagine teaching two full classes to try to make up for it. Gotta realize 70% of Taiwanese students attend cram school According to the most recent polls. That doesn’t even account for the adult cram schools.
Their Chinese names are written not the English ones so I’m not actually entirely sure which exact schools they are lol.
Personally I’m a public school teacher. I know for a fact they’re struggling right now. I have my contract and my work permit is in the approval stage but i can’t enter until they start issuing special landing permits. I know I’m not the only one in this situation.
yes they attend CRAM SCHOOL, but the English program in those cram schools is usually like a 1-2 hour session then they go back to their home room teachers.
turd level schools will soon have their illegal student labor enter the country anyway.
You think they’re going to just illegally employ all those students? You might be right about that one. Wouldn’t surprise me.
lol, im 100% sure they will. I’ve worked with people in the past who are students. I know plenty who work at schools illegally as students as well.
sadly those turd level schools need to just get burnt. They don’t care about quality, they just need a foreign face to be there. The industry needs to burn to the ground.
90% of these cram schools in Taiwan are baby sitting services. They still learn, but good teachers rarely ever will put up with those horrendous schools and then the kids suffer because they get a poor educator but a great entertainer that is able to keep the kids happy and keep the parents paying. Essentially everything in that petition to me is comical.
While it’s true there are some horrible schools, the real reason it continues is lack of government oversight not necessarily the quality of teachers in the past it was possible to get bad teachers too, since the requirements were low and it was easy to land a job after coming into Taiwan. Now, with COVID there’s a huge barrier to entry. You have to not only pay out of pocket for quarantine, but also you have to sit for 22 days without working. On top of this you must secure a job prior to coming into the country. This means that quality will automatically be higher.
Additionally many if the worst cram schools have been hit really hard by the lock down. I’m sure some still exist, but their previous model just isn’t going to cut it post lockdown.
So I really think that permitting teachers who have already secured a position and have a work permit pending in wouldn’t negatively impact anything at all.
I won’t argue with the quality of many cram schools because I’ve worked in them and know first hand.
securing a job prior to coming isn’t going to make quality any better. Usually desperate schools do that, the good schools find people in country QUICK, the positions go fast and nobody ever leaves them. The crap schools are always looking and their only option is to hire some clueless FOB foreigner to come work for them and not know any better.
Nah, they can wait. I’m quite enjoying the lack of FOBs to be honest. Things just seem quieter… at the very least there’s less Apple Daily stories about “bad foreigners ™”, which are FOB 90% of the time.
2 Likes
They let Fulbright English Teaching “Assistants” in, even before the students. Clearly it’s political
Places I sent applications to months ago are now sending me emails and phoning me even on the weekends. I interviewed with a chain school and the guy was really repulsive. I didn’t take his call and then he wrote offering me the job but with low pay. His message was kind of arrogant like he was doing me a favor. I declined his job offer. He is still trying to place someone for the same position.
Another school, an elite private school, I interviewed with called me back weeks later saying they wanted me.
You can see that the pay offers are higher today than a month ago. These places are desperate.
Yes, under these conditions the schools are going to be a lot kinder to the hires. If they lose someone because of abuse they are going to be in a real bad situation.
I’m glad the borders are closed. I’d struggle to find work if the floodgates were open. I’m glad the borders are closed because of the covid.
I’m so happy I didn’t have to move out of town to find work. I want to be near my daughter living in Taipei.
I’ll be teaching 35 hours a week. It will be rough but after being a stay at home dad and only working part time for years I’ll be happy to make the extra money.
Like what has been discussed above - there are a ton of schools that are deserving of the positions they find themselves in. It was miserable interviewing and trying to secure employment yet these people now desperate to hire let me continue searching for another 3 weeks. The places I’ll be working seem to be really great. Morning school will have cute teaching assistants and the afternoon school won’t have any trouble making assistants.
Wish me luck !!! I send all of you the best of luck !!!