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Check your English teacher's credentials!
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Son Deureo!



Joined: 30 Apr 2003

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:28 pm    Post subject: Check your English teacher's credentials! Reply with quote

Here's a little more anti-us hysteria courtesy of the Korea Times:

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/04/117_108519.html

Quote:
Check your English instructor�s credentials


1 in 10 foreign English instructors verified

By Lee Hyo-sik

Education authorities have failed to properly check the identity and qualifications of foreign English teachers hired by private learning institutes.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Friday that it has been able to verify criminal records, medical history and other personal details of only 9.3 percent of non-Koreans working at cram schools, or hagwon in Korean, as English instructors in the capital city.

By district, the Seongbuk Education Office in northern Seoul checked the identity of only eight teachers out of 152, recording the lowest verification rate of 5.2 percent.

The Gangnam Education Office posted a 5.3 percent rate as it checked personal details of only 115 hagwon teachers out of 2,172.

Under the revised law governing foreign language teachers and private institutions employing them, which went into effect on Oct. 26, 2011, the education office should confirm not only their passports, visas and foreign registration cards, but also their police records provided by native countries and latest health reports.

``Private language institutes are primarily responsible for hiring qualified instructors from foreign countries. Employers are required to check all official documents on their employees whether they committed crimes or contracted contagious diseases,�� said an official at the Seoul education office�s lifetime education department, who declined to be named.

The official said the education office then reviews all those documents from private language institutes for authenticity. Institutes will have to pay up to 3 million won ($2,600) or face closure if they do not follow the new requirements under the law.

There are about 22,600 non-Koreans with E-2 visa holders here and around 15,000 of them are employed at hagwon teaching English across the country.

``Rules concerning the employment of foreign language teachers were tightened last October following a series of unfortunate incidents involving them over the past few years. Under the revised regulations, we need to verify whether they were engaged in criminal activities in home countries,�� he said. ``They should also submit a medical checkup conducted within a month prior to the employment.��

The official then said it usually takes at least several months for those already employed at hagwon to file their criminal records. ``They have to ask their family members or friends back home to send them documents of their criminal history. But it takes at least three months. This is why the education office has not yet been able to finish the verification process.��

He said only a few English and other foreign language instructors have been engaged in criminal activities, saying local media outlets tend to exaggerate the seriousness of crimes committed by English teachers and provide a largely inaccurate impression that many instructors were unqualified and would pose a threat to pupils.


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soomin



Joined: 18 Jun 2009
Location: Daegu

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep~ one of my old co-teachers told everyone all my credentials were falsified and that I wasn't even an American citizen... probably because I laughed at him when he asked me to call him "Daddy" and told him that his discussing his failed love life with me was disgusting

Gotta just keep looking for a boss who trusts you (and all of your government-verified paperwork) >.>
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tiger fancini



Joined: 21 Mar 2006
Location: Testicles for Eyes

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 1:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Am I being a little simple when I say that pretty much everyone on an E2 has submitted apostilled criminal record checks to immigration in the last 12 months? I certainly have, as have all of my E2 friends. So in the case of E2s at least, all the MOE has to do is ask immigration. Why are they waffling on about making teachers apply for something from their home country that will take about 3 months, when a simple phone call or visit to immigration would have the same outcome? MOE and immigration are both government departments I think, so wouldn't it be much easier, quicker and cheaper for them to co-operate? Not quite understanding this to be honest.
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hogwonguy1979



Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: the racoon den

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 2:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whats interesting is that us E2ers who teach at univs haven't been asked to submit this stuff, looks like the new rules only applies to hogwon's and ps teachers. I turned in a health check to immig in 2010 and last year gave them the FBI check when I renewed/changed jobs and that was fine with them

I did have to do a separate health check for my univ. last year when I got hired though but that was for their use.

Given all this E2 BS, next year I'm asking my school for an E1 to get out of this.
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PatrickGHBusan



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

this would technically only apply to and worry those who teach with no visa. Given the requirements for the E2, the simple fact you have that visa and the ensuing ARC proves your credentials.

Now as for verfying, if it just means checking with kimmi that all the records are there and valid then that would not affect the individual teachers because a school can do this on its own without even talking to the teacher....


This seems like a storm in a tea cup.
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Eedoryeong



Joined: 10 Dec 2007
Location: Jeju

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Possible nightmare scenario:

"Our school has decided to check your credentials [and share our interpretation of our findings with the Korean community online.]"

"Okay so you want me to do the language portions of the GRE test perhaps or something like that?"

"No. Mr. Kim and I have decided to put together our own test based on the needs of the school. She and I will give the test."

Question 1: What is skinship?

"I don't know what skinship is."

"Listen. Everybody in the world knows what skinship is. If you don't know, that is an indication of a deficiency in your English. FAIL. Ms. Goh, please alert the naver and daum community that our English teacher's credentials are FALSIFIED."

etc etc
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Troglodyte



Joined: 06 Dec 2009

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think that a lot of hogwons don't care about qualifications beyond what's necessary to get the teacher a visa. If they cared, they wouldn't be hiring physics majors to teach English to preschoolers. Let's face it, if all that immigration required was a high school diploma, hogwons would be hiring people who never even went to university, especially if they could get a high school grad for less money.
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wylies99



Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe they are strongly implying that there are illegal teachers at hogwans? That there are people teaching on tourist visas? If that's happening then it's time to get serious about legally punishing the hogwan owners who employ foreign teachers without the proper E2 visas.
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hogwonguy1979



Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: the racoon den

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wylies99 wrote:
Maybe they are strongly implying that there are illegal teachers at hogwans? That there are people teaching on tourist visas? If that's happening then it's time to get serious about legally punishing the hogwan owners who employ foreign teachers without the proper E2 visas.


What they need to do is start making the hogwons more accountable for the mistreatment of teachers, not paying teachers, sneaking them though as IC's etc is more of a problem than "unqualified" teachers given the Kimmi requirements

if that happens it will be the day I get to have a threesome with Jennifer Aniston and Scarlett Johansen Very Happy
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Julius



Joined: 27 Jul 2006

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 8:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

tiger fancini wrote:
Am I being a little simple when I say that pretty much everyone on an E2 has submitted apostilled criminal record checks to immigration in the last 12 months? .


The article doesn't even mention this obvious fact.

Instead it gives the impression that the vast majority of FT's have snuck in here without providing credentials of any kind.

But even if the latter was true, at what point would Koreans stop, reflect, and realize that the system is entirely of their own making?
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luckylady



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Location: u.s. of occupied territories

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Julius wrote:
tiger fancini wrote:
Am I being a little simple when I say that pretty much everyone on an E2 has submitted apostilled criminal record checks to immigration in the last 12 months? .


The article doesn't even mention this obvious fact.

Instead it gives the impression that the vast majority of FT's have snuck in here without providing credentials of any kind.

But even if the latter was true, at what point would Koreans stop, reflect, and realize that the system is entirely of their own making?


the more I hear this hysteria about falsification of documents the more I want to believe it must be rampant in Korea - why else would it be assumed that it is so common elsewhere?

there is no other explanation as to why anyone in their right mind would ever believe it must be so easy to falisfy passports, degrees and criminal record checks Rolling Eyes
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young_clinton



Joined: 09 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 12:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

tiger fancini wrote:
Am I being a little simple when I say that pretty much everyone on an E2 has submitted apostilled criminal record checks to immigration in the last 12 months? I certainly have, as have all of my E2 friends. So in the case of E2s at least, all the MOE has to do is ask immigration. Why are they waffling on about making teachers apply for something from their home country that will take about 3 months, when a simple phone call or visit to immigration would have the same outcome? MOE and immigration are both government departments I think, so wouldn't it be much easier, quicker and cheaper for them to co-operate? Not quite understanding this to be honest.


Yeah I was going to say the same thing. How does a person get a visa required for teaching, without a CBC and having his diploma checked? I think that story is a little incredulous if not really dumb.
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hogwonguy1979



Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: the racoon den

PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 1:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

y'all know what would have made the most sense was for them to tell everybody NOT teaching on an E2 (F visas etc) to submit the stuff to the MOE.

but that would be too easy
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12ax7



Joined: 07 Nov 2009

PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 2:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

luckylady wrote:
Julius wrote:
tiger fancini wrote:
Am I being a little simple when I say that pretty much everyone on an E2 has submitted apostilled criminal record checks to immigration in the last 12 months? .


The article doesn't even mention this obvious fact.

Instead it gives the impression that the vast majority of FT's have snuck in here without providing credentials of any kind.

But even if the latter was true, at what point would Koreans stop, reflect, and realize that the system is entirely of their own making?


the more I hear this hysteria about falsification of documents the more I want to believe it must be rampant in Korea - why else would it be assumed that it is so common elsewhere?

there is no other explanation as to why anyone in their right mind would ever believe it must be so easy to falisfy passports, degrees and criminal record checks Rolling Eyes


Nobody in their right mind would think anyone would go through that trouble for the immense pleasure of working split shifts at a hagwon...Then again, the local media would have people believe that hagwon teachers earn a gazillion won per month. Wink
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lonestarteacher



Joined: 09 Jan 2011
Location: Suncheon

PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 2:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

12ax7 wrote:

Then again, the local media would have people believe that hagwon teachers earn a gazillion won per month. Wink


And only work minimal hours to do it too Smile
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