Job Discussion Forums

spanglish · Joined: 21 May 2009 Posts: 742 Location: working on that

Okay, so we have a very clear idea of pay at institutes, universities and second tier bilingual schools in Colombia. We've had very few posts, however, on what top tier international schools in Colombia pay. I've heard lots of numbers thrown around, but would like to get a better handle on the range of pay and benefits for local hires and foreign hires.

Anybody care to comment?

DebMer · Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:25 am Post subject:

I have membership at internationalschoolsreview.com, which has some info on the following schools:

� British International Sch. Barranquilla (Britanico)
-Quoted rate in USD: $26K - $28K by one reviewer and $28K - $36K by another
� Colegio Albania
-No rate quoted
� Colegio Bolivar
-No rate quoted, but salary to cost of living is rated between 6 to 10
� Colegio Colombo Britanico
-salary to COL rated 10 by 1 reviewer
� Colegio Granadino Manizales
-salary to COL rated 10 by one reviewer
� Colegio Jorge Washington Cartagena
-rated 6 by one and 1 by another reviewer
� Colegio Los Nogales Bogota
-average rating 6
� Colegio Nueva Granada Bogota
-average rating 8
� Colegio Panamericano
-$25K - $45K according to one reviewer, and about 7 on scale by others
� Columbus School Medellin
- one rated it 6, 3 others rated it 10
� Gimnasio Ingles Armenia
-most rated it 9 or 10
� Liceo Ingles
-$25K - $28K, most rated it 10
� Montessori British School
-one reviewer rated it 7

spanglish · Joined: 21 May 2009 Posts: 742 Location: working on that

Thanks, my guess would be those numbers are in addition to accommodation. It can be hard to make comparisons in Colombia, because some employers have the nasty habit of paying for 10 salaries/year while others pay up to 15 or more and there are other minor details (like if they pay for your work visa or make you buy a uniform, etc.).

DebMer · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:59 pm Post subject:

I don't understand what you mean when you refer to a habit of paying for ten or fifteen salaries per year.

Xie Lin · Joined: 21 Oct 2011 Posts: 731

spanglish · Joined: 21 May 2009 Posts: 742 Location: working on that

Okay - typically contract in Colombia are signed for 10 months of the year and you're stuck with 2 months unpaid vacation during which you're not on contract (I think I've heard this is done in some parts of Europe as well). On most contracts though you'll get government mandated extra bonuses in June and December that total around an extra month of pay (the bonus that you typically get is called a 'prima') so in the end you get paid around 11 monthly salaries for working 10 months (this is not the case on another type of contract, which is called 'prestaci�n de servicios' under which you're hired as an independent contractor and get none of these benefits and also have larger deductions taken out of your paycheck....this country is set up to benefit the rich and hurt the poor, but that's another story...).

There are other schools though in which you'll receive even more bonuses which work out to more monthly 'salaries.' I've heard this extra payment is typically given at the end of the year in a lump sum.

Thanks Xie! Just saw your post.

DebMer · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:55 pm Post subject:

Ah. I understand. Nothing like a school not being willing to divide a school year's wages into 12 month installments, eh? Confused

The Internationalist · Joined: 26 May 2012 Posts: 110

Nueva Granada is regarded as the best school in Colombia.

Starting in Oct I will begin my online alternative cert program so I can get a job at these institutes and make an extended stay in Colombia.

Will prob go to Venezuela first though. They pay ALOT over there.

spanglish · Joined: 21 May 2009 Posts: 742 Location: working on that

Nueva Granada is definitely known as the top school in the country. The 2 teachers I've talked to, however, who have worked for them had nothing but bad to terrible things to say about the experience - terrible administration and students. In addition the school took advantage of the fact that one of them was already here on a 'local contract' and paid him much less than they should have. He was glad to leave them soon after.

The good news is that there are several other very good paying high schools in the country.

The Internationalist · Joined: 26 May 2012 Posts: 110

Def best to get hired from abroad to ensure not getting a local contract.

That guy must be pretty dumb if he is certified from the states and accepted an "local contract".

spanglish · Joined: 21 May 2009 Posts: 742 Location: working on that

Nope, he's not dumb, but he's not certified to teach, just a masters degree in his subject and years of experience.

The Internationalist · Joined: 26 May 2012 Posts: 110

spanglish · Joined: 21 May 2009 Posts: 742 Location: working on that

Ummm, okay....good luck in Colombia I guess.

eric blair · Joined: 02 Mar 2006 Posts: 16

Spanglish, where's the like button?

simonenglish · Joined: 09 Aug 2011 Posts: 38

Can people quote some hard figures and names? A top tier school would be Bolivar in Cali, for example? 26,000 US Dollars per annum would be a good estimate for a school like this?

Second tier schools would pay around 20,000 US Dollars. This is what I am guessing from the above... (accomodation provided plus health insurance, etc).