Job Discussion Forums

[Sailormoon1135]

On the surface, this seems to be a great job, but all foreign teachers are treated like assistants and replaceable. It is not an international school!

In the second semester, the school started cutting a few teachers’ and my pay claiming that we went over the electricity and water limit every month, even when we were out of the country. We asked for documentation but never received it. In February, all of our pay was cut in half. The principal claimed it was an accident and gave us the full pay after two weeks. The next month my pay was cut almost in half again. I asked the principal to fix it, but she told me that I was only one teacher and I would have to wait until to next month to get a portion of it back.
The first sign should have been on the day I left for China I received an email from the school saying that they wouldn’t pick me up from the airport because my arrival time was too late. I had booked my flight two months in advance and informed them of the dates and times. Two teachers and I also didn’t have internet in our apartments for 15 weeks, which makes creating lessons and gathering materials difficult because we don’t have offices or office hours. Most of the school’s computers are broken and there are only two in each classroom for three teachers. We didn’t have paper for over month and had to individually cut sheets for the printer of which the school only has one for 20+ teachers. We did have one color printer, but it was deemed too expensive, so we had to color or paint flash cards and decorations for the classroom. There were also over 60 cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease going around the school, and no one would tell the parents about this, nor would they close down the school to sterilize it. Image is more important than safety.
I had been sick for over a month with stomach problems. The doctor said that he wanted to perform an endoscopy to look at my stomach for an ulcer. The doctor handed me a disclaimer in Chinese, and I asked the foreign teacher coordinator what it said and she wasn’t able to tell me. She left me alone in the hospital to go to her own doctor appointment. I found her again when she was about to leave, and I made her go in the room with me to translate. The procedure was performed on me with no Novocain and even after I started crying and screamed “Stop,” they performed it anyway. The woman wouldn’t help me. I found out that the insurance card was actually just a debit card with 30 USD on it, and it only worked at some hospitals.
I was worried that I was hurt by the procedure and told my school. I asked for partial or full compensation to see an English speaking doctor because I was hurt under the school’s care, but the principal said that it was the hospital’s fault. She told me to see the vice principal of the international section. The meeting was filled with his blaming me for the whole situation, and telling me my demand for compensation was “unreasonable.” I had to spend a large portion of my monthly salary visiting English hospitals making sure that I didn’t have any internal bleeding caused by the incompetency of the foreign teacher coordinator. The only help the school offered me was transportation to the hospital, which I accepted but was denied after I told them that I didn’t want a Chinese teacher to go with me.
DON'T GO HERE!

[Simon in Suzhou]

I'm in Guangzhou and I never heard of this school. I'm not sure how "On the surface, this seems to be a great job?" What were you getting paid each month to put up with this situation? 15 weeks without internet? Docked pay during the previous holiday when you were out of the country? WHY DIDN'T YOU PUT IN YOUR NOTICE AND LEAVE?

I always try to take the side of a teacher when posts come out like this about a job (a new poster with only 1 post). But the fact that this person obviously finished the year, unhappy, makes me wonder how many of the additional details are hyperbole. Seems like there were money issues at the end- fair enough. Going back and complaining about not getting picked up at the airport 10 months later seems like piling on. 15 weeks without internet? 15? Really? Again, why would anyone with the credentials to work in an "international" school stay on if it was so bad?

One thing that is true: Having "international school" in the name means nothing in China.

[The_Kong]

[nomad-ish]

I'm in Guangzhou too, and I've never heard of this school. I think it's always important to remember that even when a school calls itself an "international school," you should look into its accreditations and anything you can find on its reputation.

OP, did you actually finish the year there??

[Vaxa]

Sounds horrific. Did you finish the year?

[GuangJoseph]

Beware the single post ranters! There is a saying here - "good news stays at home" - and it's certainly applicable here!

I've been employed by Phoenix City International school for the last five years, and I love it. I've never found reason to complain. Perhaps that's because as an adult, I fix my own problems, as I would back in my own country. School is where I work. The rest is down to me. Internet down in my nice free apartment? I'll get my own internet set up. Sick? Nothing to do with school. I'll use my insurance to see a decent doctor. The lack of resources is the only fair point, and that has since been rectified. I'm not going to pick apart the whole rant above, as I don't have time.

It's a good school, and if anyone wants to chat with me, or any other teacher, get in touch and I'd be happy to give you ten or so teachers who will give you an honest and fair review. I'm not here to advertise, just letting you know that it's not as bad as made out above.

To those reading this: it would be ill advised to take the above negative view as representative of the actual situation

[no_i_clean]

Yep. I work in PCIS as well, just finished my first year and have signed on for a second. This post nearly put me off going when I read it last year, but I'm seriously glad it didn't. It's possible to find grievances in any situation if you're looking for them, but in my opinion we have a lovely little set up and are very well looked after!

I'm not going to go on and on but if anyone wants further info or specific questions send me a message!

[thechangling]

When two new posters post positive but superficial analysis of a school that has poor reviews on other sites as well as this one, that should be enough make most people suspicious.

[no_i_clean]

I'm not new! Long time lurker first time poster is all! But sure look, believe what you want, I was only trying to be constructive!

[GuangJoseph]

[asiannationmc]

GuangJoseph, so out of curiosity .... does the school provide insurance ....

[nomad-ish]

i don't know if this is kosher to do, so forgive me if it's not. i did some digging and found a couple more reviews on this school. there are so many bad, just bad, "international" schools in China and i've seen some really good people go through stuff like this. these reviews are only about 2-3 years old.

(1)
On the surface, this seems to be a great job, but all foreign teachers are treated like assistants and replaceable. It is not an international school!

The problems I encountered came from the foreign teacher coordinator, the principal, and the vice principal of the international section of the school. The woman in charge of helping the foreign teachers with bank accounts, translation, and work affairs is completely incapable, and from my understanding is still employed with the school.

In the second semester, the school started cutting a few teachers’ and my pay claiming that we went over the electricity and water limit every month, even when we were out of the country. We asked for documentation but never received it. In February, all of our pay was cut in half. The principal claimed it was an accident and gave us the full pay after two weeks. The next month my pay was cut almost in half again. I asked the principal to fix it, but she told me that I was only one teacher and I would have to wait until to next month to get a portion of it back.

The first sign should have been on the day I left for China I received an email from the school saying that they wouldn’t pick me up from the airport because my arrival time was too late. I had booked my flight two months in advance and informed them of the dates and times. Two teachers and I also didn’t have internet in our apartments for 15 weeks, which makes creating lessons and gathering materials difficult because we don’t have offices or office hours. Most of the school’s computers are broken and there are only two in each classroom for three teachers. We didn’t have paper for over a month and had to individually cut sheets for the printer of which the school only has one for 20+ teachers. We did have one color printer, but it was deemed too expensive, so we had to color or paint flash cards and decorations for the classroom. There were also over 60 cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease going around the school, and no one would tell the parents about this, nor would they close down the school to sterilize it. Image is more important than safety.

I had been sick for over a month with stomach problems. The doctor said that he wanted to perform an endoscopy to look at my stomach for an ulcer. The doctor handed me a disclaimer in Chinese, and I asked the foreign teacher coordinator what it said and she wasn’t able to tell me. She left me alone in the hospital to go to her own doctor appointment. I found her again when she was about to leave, and I made her go in the room with me to translate. The procedure was performed on me with no Novocain and even after I started crying and screamed “Stop,” they performed it anyway. The woman wouldn’t help me. I found out that the insurance card was actually just a debit card with 30 USD on it, and it only worked at some hospitals.

I was worried that I was hurt by the procedure and told my school. I asked for partial or full compensation to see an English speaking doctor because I was hurt under the school’s care, but the principal said that it was the hospital’s fault. She told me to see the vice principal of the international section. The meeting was filled with his blaming me for the whole situation, and telling me my demand for compensation was “unreasonable.” I had to spend a large portion of my monthly salary visiting English hospitals making sure that I didn’t have any internal bleeding caused by the incompetency of the foreign teacher coordinator. The only help the school offered me was transportation to the hospital, which I accepted but was denied after I told them that I didn’t want a Chinese teacher to go with me.

(2)
When I interviewed with this school (via SKYPE) both Alex-the recruiter-and the foreign teacher coordinator were untruthful about multiple topics. I was told that there was ample opportunity for overtime at the school. In reality, the vice principal, Alex Shin, picks and chooses his favorites (male only) teachers to work overtime at a school he claims is owned by his "nephew", but nobody has ever met or seen his nephew. I am convinced that Alex is simply trying to get around the real owners of the school- Country Garden Holdings, which is a Chinese real estate conglomerate.

When the new teachers in my group arrived, the apartments were in varied states of cleanliness and disrepair. My apartment had not been lived in as the previous teacher was living with his local girlfriend. The dust and mold were nauseating. My air conditioner (in August) did not work and I had to threaten not to teach to get it fixed.

The furniture was cheap and in various states of disrepair. The mold in the bathroom was beyond repair and it would have taken sandblasting of the cement walls to get down to where it started. The building I was in (and a few others) was infested with rats. Some teachers had them coming under their front door. The rubbish was all left out the front of the building...serving as a magnet for rodents!

The Native English Teachers are hired to teach English, Math and Science. There are no resources for the science classes. Teachers need to spend money out of their own pockets if they want to teach certain topics and never get reimbursed.

The same can be said of Halloween, Christmas and like "western" holidays where the school expects teachers to coordinate activities. I was in charge of Halloween for the primary grade 1 classes (4). I met with the other teachers and submitted our requests for supplies 6 weeks BEFORE Halloween. We only found out what we would and would not receive the day before. Needless to say, it was necessary to spend money out of our own pockets. In light of the luxury homes surrounding this school and the tuition paid by the parents, this is inexcusable!

The school has aspirations of becoming a PYP IB School. Not a bad classification to strive for. That said, the vice principal has appointed a 25 year old with no teaching credentials in his home country to oversee this process. He has an online pgce in global education and tells people he has a masters degree. He is not a qualified teacher in his home country. And the school will not send teachers for training...rather they depend on him to come back and recap training.

The vice principal was so CHEAP that when he and this teacher went to Singapore for training, the vice principal insisted that they stay in the same hotel room to save money...UNBELIEVABLE. Needless to say, their unwillingness to hire a qualified teacher who has classroom experience in a western country and is experienced in IB boils down to one thing...they are unwilling to pay the salary someone with such qualifications has every right to expect.

They are deceptive in their recruiting processes, I personally find the vice principal to be incompetent, unethical and sexist. The area has no recreational amenities, the apartments have no ventilation or screens and get moldy quite easily, the kitchens are miniscule, and the nearest real city is 40 minutes away. Medical resources are nonexistent near the school and the local police office requires all teachers to register every time they travel out of China or face a fine. If you go to Hong Kong for the weekend, you have to let them know....POLICE STATE!

[vikeologist]

of course we should take one (or even 2) negative reviews with a pinch of salt, but the OP was fairly detailed. I'm happy to accept that the school might not be as bad as he suggested, but there is a huge gulf between that and somewhere where anybody should work, and the supporters who have come out of the woodwork haven't addressed them.

So schools have a responsibility to help teachers with medical and internet issues? I think they do because of the language barrier. They certainly have some duty of care.

I'm not saying that it should extend as far as the OP may have wished, or that we know enough about the specifics of the OP's situation but

[GuangJoseph]

deleted due to this forum being a place to complain, and not willing to hear positives. staying out of this place.

[no_i_clean]

Hi!

Firstly, I didn't just sign up, you can see I'm a member since Nov 14, I actually sent the email to get membership last summer with the intention of replying to this post which had freaked me out a bit and I wanted to find out more, but it didn't get activated till November and by then I was already in China and happy out at work so obviously there was no need. I worked in Korea previously and used to post on the Korea board (rarely though) but a separate account is required to post on Korea and China boards and that's why I have the quite new one.

Just regarding the insurance, the school provides us with a card which they pay money into on a monthly basis that can be used in any public hospital. I was ill this year and was covered for consultations, IV treatment and various tests, I was accompanied by the Foreign Affairs Officer who translated and just generally minded me! I also chose to visit a western hospital for a separate issue earlier in the year and as that was a private practice that was not covered by the school insurance and I paid for that myself.

You've asked me to elaborate and I'm happy to do so, but I don't know where to start and to be honest a bit terrified, because I just feel like anything I say will just get picked apart and thrown back at me and I just came on to reply with the best of intentions to offer a line of communication for anyone who was considering coming and actually wanted to ask questions to some one who was already there. I can vouch that everything that Guangjoseph said in his elaboration is genuine.

It's a nice school to work for, there's a really great community of foreigner teachers and a healthy social scene.

What else do you want to know?