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[lostgalnomad]

As people consider programs for the next school year, I wanted to share a review of my experience with the Central European Teaching Program (CETP) in Hungary. First of all, let me stress that there are many participants (80+ this year alone) and teachers’ experiences can vary wildly. I know that some teachers had a great time and highly recommend the program. This was not the case for me. In fact, it was so awful that I feel the need to warn others, even though writing about this is actually quite painful, especially the part where CETP and the school tried to force me to sign papers in Hungarian stating that I had been paid more than I had actually received.

CETP originally told me that I would be working as “essentially lead teacher” along with two Hungarian teachers in a bilingual Kindergarten. After arriving, I discovered that I was actually an assistant in a daycare center (aka a crèche) and had been placed in a room where no one (not even the teachers) spoke any English. I was not allowed to have control over anything aside from a short English circle-time that I had to fight to get. Even then, I was restricted in what I could do since teaching the ABCs is not allowed until 1st grade. The position was frustrating, lonely, and fraught many other problems. For example, I had a 2-hour daily commute (2 buses and a 1-mile walk every morning and every evening, rain or shine) and was in a very isolated part of Budapest far from any shops/restaurants/etc., despite having been told I’d have a “centrally-located” apartment. In fact, much of what they promised fell through and I was given many excuses: “oh, our contract is old and needs updating” and “oops, we’ll do better next year” were phrases I heard a lot. I wanted to leave but CETP wouldn’t transfer me until they found a replacement. It was during this process that I learned I wasn’t being paid properly.

CETP promises, on their website and in their contract, that participants will be paid in accordance with Hungary’s Ministry of Education guidelines. CETP does not, however, publish what this payment should be. According to the Ministry (see http://www.kozszolga.hu/pedag%C3%B3gus-b%C3%A9rt%C3%A1bla-2014-szeptember%C3%A9t%C5%91l ) the starting monthly salary for a teacher with a Bachelor’s degree is 165,570 forint. As a foreigner, CETP teachers pay an 18.5% health fee. Thus, the minimum monthly salary any CETP teacher should receive is just over 135,000 forint ($480 per the current exchange rate).

Since I didn’t know the actual minimum amount at the time, but trusted CETP and the provision in the contract that I’d be paid accordingly, I signed a contract for 120,000ft ($425) per month. The in-country director of CETP, Hajni, knew all of this, but said nothing. Similar to other teachers at the school, I began receiving reimbursement for my travel expenses as well - if I purchased the more expensive business pass so the school could get a tax write-off. To make a long story a little shorter, after a problem with my health insurance card, I'd had enough and publicly complained about the unfair treatment and salary. The debate got very complicated, in part because I had never been given any documentation regarding my salary and taxes.

When I finally received the documentation, I was shocked to discover the school was claiming they had been paying me 135,000 forint per month plus travel expenses and that my salary had been paid via bank deposit, despite the school being a cash-only (receivable and payable) business. Over the course of 5 months, the discrepancy between the document totals and what I actually received amounted to over 70,000ft (more than 2 weeks’ pay). Instead of admitting the error, Hajni and the school’s director surprised me with a meeting in which they tried to convince me to just sign the documents. They did this by 1) giving me false translations of the document terms 2) presenting me with a fake wage-scale printed from an unrelated website, 3) telling me that the forms were just too complicated for me to possibly understand, 4) claiming the school’s tax liability should be deducted from my salary, and 5) stating that I shouldn’t be paid a teacher’s salary because, as they finally admitted, I was merely an assistant. Regardless of the reasoning, I was not going to sign false documents. Ultimately, the director agreed to pay the discrepancy on the condition that I sign the documents and terminate employment immediately. Although the school wanted to also kick me out of the apartment that same day, CETP did allow me to remain in my accommodation until the end of the month. However, I had to sign a waiver stating I would not take legal action against them.

Although this post is longer than I’d hoped, I have sincerely tried to keep it as short as possible while also including what I felt was the most relevant information, all of which I have documentation to support. I wanted to share my story so others may be aware that CETP does not always provide a good experience and can be dishonest in its dealings with participants.

One final note: Since CETP has a history of encouraging former participants to discredit less-than-positive reviews, I want to make sure it is clear that I am not claiming that what happened to me will happen to everyone. More importantly, I am not angry because CETP didn’t cater to some irrational sense of entitlement. I admit it is quite possible that someone else would have been happy in the situation I described. The problem I have is that CETP was not honest and therefore I was not given the opportunity to turn them down and find another position (i.e. as an actual teacher with a less harsh commute). Moreover, it is not the salary amount that upsets me, but that they lied and then tried to force me to sign false papers. I’ve traveled and worked long enough that I know what my limitations are and what I’m willing to accept. Life is short and I feel I wasted time because CETP made explicit promises but did not deliver.