Job Discussion Forums

EOD · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 167 Location: Taiwan

I have been told by many of my friends in the public school system here in Taiwan, that a bribe of 120,00Nt is required for an appointment as a public school teacher. I want to work in the public school system here in Taiwan. I am a foreigner but very qualified. I have several international teaching certificates. How much do I pay and to whom?
Mr. Green

Okami · Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Posts: 121 Location: Sunny Sanxia

But do you get the same pay with benefits? I would take $40,000NT/month if it included the savings acct with a guaranteed 18% interest rate, plus all the other goodies. For this a bribe of $50,000 would be ok with me as long as it came with a 3 year contract.

Paying for it though? Hmmm? Paying for what? As the offer stands now, I wouldn't pay for it. They'd have to sweeten that pot a little for me to take a pay cut and walk into a school of angry Taiwanese teachers with classes of 30-50 students versus my average class of 12 students with Chinese teachers who like me a lot. For that I'd pay the normal $1000-5000NT for the medical and ARC, which I would consider a bribe.

I checked about paying for a public teacher's job and my gf says it happens. I was a bit shocked. I'll have to start asking around about this. I work with licensed teachers at my kindergarten. I'll have to get them to share some secrets with me. I never imagined that people would pay for such a job. Is it really that secure once your hired? I mean what's stopping them from hiring you for only one year and then just firing you for some bogus reason?

CYA
Okami

Aristotle · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1388 Location: Taiwan

Most English teachers in Taiwan have to pay a kickback to the manger for a job. It comes in the form of work deposits, brokerage fees, misappropriated tax withholdings or a little creative accounting to deduct the fee directly from a teacher's pay, without them even knowing. Add to that the fact that few teachers are paid for extra curricular activities, the school pays for the teachers to be there, but the teachers never get the pay.
English teachers are a cash cow for nearly everybody involved. Often the foreign teacher will have little to no pay left, after everyone else gets their portion.
This is Taiwan, what did you expect?
The average pay "deduction" is half of a teacher's monthly pay to one months pay. It is usually withheld from the first months pay or more discreetly in the form of tax withholdings that never get submitted.