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Mektebim Koleji

 
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Nebbich



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 43
Location: Turkey

PostPosted: Thu Dec 03, 2015 11:36 am    Post subject: Mektebim Koleji Reply with quote

Anyone else out there having problems getting their Work Permit organised with these people? We have been advised to lie and get Residence Permits and bypass the formal process....dead dodgy despite Milli Egitim approval of our papers.
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crobizzle



Joined: 16 Oct 2015
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Thu Dec 03, 2015 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If the ministry has approved your papers, there is absolutely no reason you should have to get a residence permit INSTEAD of a work permit. Not only will it be expensive (probably for YOU, not the school), but if your school DOES apply for a work permit later, it will cancel your residence permit since a work permit also acts as a residence permit. If your school has at least applied for a work permit, then you're fine...no need to get a residence permit "just in case". However, if they haven't, they have probably broken their end of your contract, and are opening you & them up to heavy fines if anyone finds out that you've been working without a work permit.
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Nebbich



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 43
Location: Turkey

PostPosted: Thu Dec 03, 2015 4:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know that the work permit is the residence and I have consistently told them this and have even shown them the application page on the Ministry of Labour website, but they are still asking people to apply at local GOC offices for residence. The central admin in Istanbul is incompetent.
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Nebbich



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 43
Location: Turkey

PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 11:38 am    Post subject: This will really be no surprise Reply with quote

The agency that recruits teachers does it's best but, the Mektebim management are dishonest, unresponsive and incompetent.

Promised work permits have, to my knowledge, been obtained for NONE of the foreign teachers in any of the schools across the country.

The promised Health Insurance had one, single, payment made on it so that teachers could obtain Residence permits...further payments have not been made and thus the cards issued by the company have not been sent to the teachers...another question is how these contracts were obtained without the signatures etc. of those 'insured'.

Teachers have been told to lie in order to obtain 'touristic' residence permits.

The HR department has a woman who speaks no English to look after foreign teachers. She also does not understand the Work Permit system and is so incompetent that she cannot correctly transcribe names, dates of birth or even Turkish street addresses onto the GOC forms required for the process.

Expenses incurred during the process are supposed to be reimbursed. So far, it has been impossible to get even TL100 refunded for transport expenses.

They set up elaborate schemes which then fail to materialise.

They refuse to respond to polite emails or phone calls. They do the usual trick of going silent.

Take this as a warning: do not work for these people.
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EFL Educator



Joined: 17 Jul 2013
Posts: 988
Location: Cape Town

PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 12:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No surprises here...this is happening to EFL teachers everywhere in Turkey these days! Shocked
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gamze90



Joined: 31 Oct 2015
Posts: 36

PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 7:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Gov are making to hard to get WP for people with non teaching degrees.
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Nebbich



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 43
Location: Turkey

PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 7:08 am    Post subject: UPDATE: DO NOT WORK HERE Reply with quote

Further and final details on working at Mektebim:

1. Mektebim has 23 operational schools with about 45 foreign teachers. Only 4/5 of these are legally employed with Work Permits.

2. As is usual, management is unresponsive, incompetent and unable to communicate clearly in English. They fail to support teachers.

3. These are cash cows not educational institutions.

4. Teachers have left and continue to leave because they have no legal protections and are no confident oof receiving their Summer pay.

5. There are two major outside investors: SEDCO, a Saudi State investment group who hold 30% and are supposed to expand that to 50%, and, the Sancak Group who have invested US$10m and who are so concerned that they have placed staff inside the Mektebim organisation to work out how things stand.

6. The schools do not obtain Ministry of Education permissions for teachers. The do not obtain Ministry of Labour permits. They do not pay tax on the salaries of foreign teachers. This means that Mektebim itself is open to prosecution and huge fines, but it also places the foreign staff in deep jeopardy...and remember, this is Turkey.

7. In at least wo cases, Mektebim has committed fraud by providing fake contracts for teachers to secure residence papers. You are told to get non-working residence papers and that the school will then get the work and working residence papers...this does not happen.

ONCE AGAIN, THE MESSAGE IS: DON'T!!!
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Nebbich



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 43
Location: Turkey

PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 7:52 am    Post subject: forgot! Reply with quote

I forgot to note that in the Edremit school a Year 8 student threw himself out of a second floor window...hushed up.
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JohnRambo



Joined: 06 Mar 2008
Posts: 183

PostPosted: Thu May 05, 2016 5:45 pm    Post subject: Re: UPDATE: DO NOT WORK HERE Reply with quote

Nebbich wrote:
Further and final details on working at Mektebim:

1. Mektebim has 23 operational schools with about 45 foreign teachers. Only 4/5 of these are legally employed with Work Permits.

2. As is usual, management is unresponsive, incompetent and unable to communicate clearly in English. They fail to support teachers.

3. These are cash cows not educational institutions.

4. Teachers have left and continue to leave because they have no legal protections and are no confident oof receiving their Summer pay.

5. There are two major outside investors: SEDCO, a Saudi State investment group who hold 30% and are supposed to expand that to 50%, and, the Sancak Group who have invested US$10m and who are so concerned that they have placed staff inside the Mektebim organisation to work out how things stand.

6. The schools do not obtain Ministry of Education permissions for teachers. The do not obtain Ministry of Labour permits. They do not pay tax on the salaries of foreign teachers. This means that Mektebim itself is open to prosecution and huge fines, but it also places the foreign staff in deep jeopardy...and remember, this is Turkey.

7. In at least wo cases, Mektebim has committed fraud by providing fake contracts for teachers to secure residence papers. You are told to get non-working residence papers and that the school will then get the work and working residence papers...this does not happen.

ONCE AGAIN, THE MESSAGE IS: DON'T!!!



In my experience, Turkey sounds worse than South Korea in terms of the EFL jobs. Don't get me wrong, there are many horror stories out of South Korea. The difference is the process is cumbersome, but more straightforward. You get your alien card when you submit your paperwork.
Where you have to be careful is you have to check with the tax, pension, and health insurance people to make sure the boss is contributing, but the ESL community in South Korea's huge, and they give each other tons of advice. The community seems small over, in comparison.

I work at a public university in Turkey. I had some hiccups such as having my ID card say that I started a few months before I actually even entered the country. That said, I've been paid regularly, I have health insurance that's active, but the guy overseeing my process neglected to make sure my health insurance was active, and he got some flack from his superiors over that, because I was livid. That was taken care of. I do feel for my fellow ESL/EFL teachers when they get a raw deal. In Korea, I once lent a fellow money and encouraged others to help him when he was battling a horrible boss, so I'm completely sympathetic.
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Nebbich



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 43
Location: Turkey

PostPosted: Thu May 05, 2016 6:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks John...soon. I will write another update about these deceitful swine...material for a novel, maybe?
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JohnRambo



Joined: 06 Mar 2008
Posts: 183

PostPosted: Fri May 06, 2016 5:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nebbich wrote:
Thanks John...soon. I will write another update about these deceitful swine...material for a novel, maybe?


Some folks feel if they can cheat, then they will. We're talking about cultures where many are penny wise while being pound foolish. They'll try to cheat their employees out of peanuts and then lose quality instructors. They don't care if they're legal or not, and the government isn't engaged in enough oversight, I would imagine, to make such companies are acting above-board.
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Nebbich



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 43
Location: Turkey

PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 12:50 pm    Post subject: JUST DON'T DO IT Reply with quote

Mektebim have now reneged on paying the Summer pay to last year's teachers. Teachers have received fines from the Ministry of Labour for working illegally. The Head of English claims that they let teachers go that had trouble getting permits...70+ of them!
Do not work for these people.
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JohnRambo



Joined: 06 Mar 2008
Posts: 183

PostPosted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nebbich wrote:
I know that the work permit is the residence and I have consistently told them this and have even shown them the application page on the Ministry of Labour website, but they are still asking people to apply at local GOC offices for residence. The central admin in Istanbul is incompetent.


They are one in the same. However, many in Turkey don't keep up with the changes. They could make a simple phone call, but that would take some effort.
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