I am curious to know if anyone has any experience with schools that offer paid summer vacations. I know of one advertising now and I have heard of others, but are they really out there? I am guessing that some public schools may offer summers paid, but certainly not the one I work at. Also, does anyone have any experience with high schools in and around Taipei? Is it hard to get a job working in one (private or public) and are the wages and conditions any better there? I am realy only familiar with Hsinchu in regards to working. Again, any info would be helpful.
As I am sure you know, most bushiban schools do not offer paid holidays. This is by far the industry norm. If you do find somewhere, they will probably generate the ‘paid holiday’ by paying you less during the rest of the year. So, in reality you are not getting paid any extra, you are just being given it in a different way. In my opinion, it is much better/wiser that you save up your ‘holiday’ money in your bank account, rather than let them hold onto it for you.
If you hold a teaching qualification (such as a PGCE) then you could apply for jobs in places like the European School (or other International schools). These jobs are not easy to get. They work you hard and the responsibilities and job specs are obviously VERY different to teaching English as a foreign language. These types of jobs do indeed come with long and good paid holidays, as well as other perks/allowances.
University contracts run from August 1 through July 31. If you hire on after August 1, you will be contracted from the actual date you sign though July 31 (beware of this trick as you will lose a year of tenure; make sure to request that whoever is checking your credentials back-date the response so that you can get “hired” at the real salary level you should have beginning August 1).
So yes, you are paid for summers, or at least half a summer if you’re not going to continue, and a whole summer if you are going to continue at the school the following year. At least this is how it has been. You should check carefully as IMHO ever since they drew the first distinction between “local” and “foreign” professors (on the issue of syphilis testing) the door is open to deny foreign teachers all sorts of perks (sabbatical years, retirement, etc. etc.)