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Hawthorn Language School TMC

 
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joecool



Joined: 01 May 2012
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2012 9:15 am    Post subject: Hawthorn Language School TMC Reply with quote

I just wanted to share some insight with the rest of the community about Hawthorn Language School (which is the ESL department of the private school, TMC).

Class Sizes: Peaks at 24 (usually around 22) students.
Work Days: Monday to Friday
Working Hours: 8:30 to 6:00 (1 hour lunch, 30 minute break)
Teaching Hours: 5 hours/day

Caveats:
- Teachers are occasionally required to work on weekends and even public holidays without any compensation.
- Turnover of TMC staff is alarmingly high (i.e., approximately 1 staff will leave every 2 weeks).
- Extremely heavy top down management style. Your grievances are usually ignored or used against you.
- Very poor academic integrity (students are often pushed through even though they technically are unprepared for a new level).
- Unfair contractual terms (e.g., most teachers are bound by a 1 year contract; breaking the contract will result in a 2 month wage penalty)
- Salary is generally lower than many other private schools.
- Local teachers (i.e. Singaporean or PRs) are usually discriminated against (e.g. lower salary, not given full-time positions).
- School prefers to hire only white teachers (i.e. they won't hire you if you're a native English speaker but of a non-caucasian ethnicity)
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joecool



Joined: 01 May 2012
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:06 pm    Post subject: TMC Update Reply with quote

Just wanted to post an update about this school.

It seems that the school is advertising aggressively because a lot of teachers have had enough. Be very careful and make sure you read the contractual terms if you do decide to take up the offer at this school. There is an obvious reason why so many teachers are leaving.
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timteach



Joined: 21 Jun 2012
Posts: 13

PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the insight.
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plumpy nut



Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652

PostPosted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 9:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

How much are the teachers getting payed there? Are they getting payed well? Because in Thailand the conditions can be really crappy and what I have seen IS really crappy and the pay in Thailand is crappy. Professional teachers in Thailand are either finding the few jobs that are decent or are leaving. More and more now, less educated people arriving right off of the plane are starting to fill the positions there.
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joecool



Joined: 01 May 2012
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 8:01 am    Post subject: Salaries Reply with quote

Depending on how gullible a person is, teachers get paid between SGD$2000 to SGD$3600.

I say gullible because, once, an unfortunate teacher with X amount of experience was paid only SGD$2000 while another teacher, with the same amount of experience was paid around $3000.
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Tudor



Joined: 21 Aug 2009
Posts: 339

PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 9:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I've seen job posts offering up to SG$4500 - the jobs might not be any good, but they seem to be out there.

I think the BC salary starts at about SG$5000.

Of course, there will be jobs that pay less, but I'd hope people aren't daft enough to take them in such an expensive country. If they are, then it's their own look-out.
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joecool



Joined: 01 May 2012
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:59 am    Post subject: Glassdoor Review Reply with quote

Here's a review I found on Glassdoor.

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-TMC-Academy-Pte-Ltd-RVW1772380.htm
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creeper1



Joined: 24 Aug 2010
Posts: 481
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan

PostPosted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 8:50 am    Post subject: Re: Glassdoor Review Reply with quote

joecool wrote:
Here's a review I found on Glassdoor.

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-TMC-Academy-Pte-Ltd-RVW1772380.htm


Now that's a hell of a review Laughing

Confirmation that Singapore isn't the land of milk and honey for the TEFLer.
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gorm_den_gamle



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 1:58 am    Post subject: Reproduce review Reply with quote

Hi all,

That Glassdoor review deserves to be cut and pasted here by a sufficiently disinterested person (with appropriate citation, of course). If Glassdoor's servers were to go down, there'd be very little material online reviewing the said company.

Pls... someone?
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