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Kyiv Schools Sit Rep

 
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Cardinal Synn



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 586

PostPosted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 7:20 am    Post subject: Kyiv Schools Sit Rep Reply with quote

Thought I'd write some stuff about schools in Kyiv...

Some info about current state of the 3 best known schools here.

British Council - Seems to be soldiering on and is, as far as I'm aware, currently the only fully legal employer. They have changed their class/lesson format and now teachers teach different groups (slightly randomly) using off the shelf lesson plans.

International House Kyiv - Recently fired their director and have allegedly lost affiliation with International House World Organisation. The director is publically claiming on social media that they were "raiders" and stole her position. IH Kyiv has lost all of its experienced native speakers and seems headed towards an uncertain future.

LSE - This school has been advertising for new teachers, claiming they are expanding. I haven't seen any evidence to support that statement. However, they do seem to be offering double the local currency rate from a year ago. I can only wonder how they will be able to remain "legal".

No other schools offer legalization, as far as I know. Though I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

Prices for everything in Ukraine have shot up and continue to rise, and some schools are feeling it more than others. As always, do as much research as you can on any school you are considering working for.
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RustyShackleford



Joined: 13 May 2013
Posts: 449

PostPosted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 2:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ugh. Yeah shame about those prices. I just booked a trip to Kyiv (catching up with a friend who I knew in Japan and figured best to just stop by while still in Europe) and, when talking with a Ukrainian lady who runs a local store, heard about how expensive things have gotten as of late. Ah well, looks like a gorgeous city nonetheless.

While I'm not planning on working in the near future, out of curiosity, is it a sort of a "show up and search" type of country as opposed to a place where you need to arrange for proper visas?
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neftoprestupnik



Joined: 11 Aug 2014
Posts: 18

PostPosted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

RustyShackleford wrote:
While I'm not planning on working in the near future, out of curiosity, is it a sort of a "show up and search" type of country as opposed to a place where you need to arrange for proper visas?


I worked in Donetsk from 2010-2014, first at the AEC branch in the city and then at a local school run by a trustworthy American.

AEC convinced me, as they do with all new hires, that getting a visa once you're in country won't be an issue. Many people who work there, like I was, are naïve 20-somethings with zero to little experience in ESL and traveling in general. Not slagging anyone, that's just the truth. I believed the AEC recruiter and management and went to Ukraine on a tourist visa in 2010. Some guys got multi-entry business visas (which do not allow you to work legally in the country, only to come and go over the course of a year and thus avoid the 90/180 rule) before arriving which the school helped to arrange.

When I arrived to Ukraine, I was told by AEC mgmt. that I needed to go to a Ukrainian embassy in a neighboring country with some official-looking document that I couldn't understand. I did this and went to Krakow. The consul in Krakow wouldn't give me a business visa and told me that I shouldn't return to Ukraine to work for this school. I didn't want to quit my first job post-uni because of this and went back anyway. I stayed and worked there illegally for about 10 months.

After a year had passed, AEC came to me with the pitch to give it a go on a religious missionary visa (they are somehow affiliated with the 7th Day Adventist Church, very murky stuff). I saw it as a chance to reside in this country legally and jumped at it. Basically, AEC gave me a sheet of official-looking paper with a request for this visa and told me to get out for a bit. I went to Budapest and got the visa. However, that visa doesn't allow you to stay indefinitely - it only gives you permission to stay in Ukraine for 45 days until you square everything away with the OVIR office in the neighborhood of the city in which you will be living, which is another ordeal.

I went back to Kiev, gave my passport to AEC who said they would "handle it," and didn't see my passport again until 3 months later when I was called one day by an admin in Kiev and told to "get on a train!" that day to pick up my passport at the OVIR office in Kiev (where I didn't actually live, remember). I had a legal permission to live in Ukraine, but still no work visa.

All of this is very illegal and I realize my good fortune in not being arrested and deported. It was a different time, also, and I did pay a bribe on two different occasions when exiting the country. I got married in Donetsk in 2013 and got legal permission to live and work in the country which involved jumping through tons of bureaucratic hoops before getting what I needed, but I did it.

This is a long way to answering your original question, but in my opinion you won't be able to "just go" to Ukraine, find work, and then convince the school to sponsor you for a work visa. The associated costs and time investment on the school's part are too great for most to accept. They will try to persuade you that "It's ok! This is Ukraine! You're American/British! You'll be fine!" Remember that these people are only saying it to keep you working for them because native speakers attract students and increases their bottom line. If you want to run the risk of illegally working (which I don't advise, especially post-Maidan), then by all means...

The surest way to do it is to apply when LSE or the BC advertises jobs online, and they do. IH Donetsk also used to advertise through IH World's website, but I don't know about the other branches.
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Partizan



Joined: 11 Jan 2013
Posts: 61

PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The British Council in Kiev is currently recruiting

http://www.britishcouncil.org.ua/en/about/jobs

However salaries are pitiful.
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Atown32



Joined: 16 Sep 2015
Posts: 13

PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Partizan wrote:
The British Council in Kiev is currently recruiting

http://www.britishcouncil.org.ua/en/about/jobs

However salaries are pitiful.


What are the salaries? Didn't say on their site.
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Partizan



Joined: 11 Jan 2013
Posts: 61

PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 7:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Atown32 wrote:
Partizan wrote:
The British Council in Kiev is currently recruiting

http://www.britishcouncil.org.ua/en/about/jobs

However salaries are pitiful.


What are the salaries? Didn't say on their site.


if you looked hard enough, you would have found it

https://jobs.britishcouncil.org/Vacancies/W/1773/0/84025/5448/teacher-of-english-kyiv-ukraine/Referral?utm_source=external&utm_term=wider-europe-ukraine-kyiv-teaching-centres-teacher-teacher&utm_content=teacher-of-english-kyiv-ukraine&utm_campaign=british-council-recruitment&utm_medium=AtsViewLink&_ga=1.127899981.1772641520.1445768109

Clue: you will be coming in at Teacher Level 1

Enjoy Ukrainian culture on your $400 a month Laughing
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