Job Discussion Forums

[EnglishLanguageOne]

I previously worked in Saudi, the expert letter department in Zhengzhou turned down my expert status purely because I had previously worked in Saudi Arabia, or as they put it a 'sensitive country'. Consequently I have lost my job.
I am a white British 50 year old male, with a degree from a UK university plus a Cambridge CELTA.
Has anyone else here had such a problem or heard of such a problem or is this just a case of an official in Zhengzhou trying to be awkward?

[Wicked Stepmother]

I think there is definitely a crackdown going on. Trump is getting the headlines, but China is doing precisely the same thing.

Last week I went to the local computer shop to scan a copy of my visa invoice. I started talking to the Arabic guy behind the counter, who was originally from Lebanon but has been British for a long time. He has been travelling to China for ten years to get computer supplies, but said for the first time ever, he was stopped a couple of weeks ago while travelling from Hong Kong to the mainland. All his belongings were checked and he was questioned a long time about why he was going to China. The security officials went through his phone and saw a picture someone had forwarded of someone holding a gun. He was warned 'Don't ever bring this sort of thing into China.' He was allowed to enter, probably because he has been in and out of China a long time on business.

We guessed that it was probably connected to the fact that Uighurs were involved in the bombing in Turkey. China is afraid of being accused of exporting Muslim extremists, perhaps aided by outsiders who have been in Muslim countries or who are Muslim themselves. It will be interesting to see if other stories crop up.

[backtochina2017]

I will be 43 Friday, and I am going to Henan. We'll see!! Hello Xinzheng 新郑

[jimpellow]

I feel for you. I had a good laugh, however, at the ridiculousness of it all.

I am going with it being the official. A few are known to be capricious, a few with mean streaks towards certain nationalities and ethnicities, and some paranoid.

I would assume he was paranoid in the sense that in the .000000001% chance that you were brainwashed by ISIS, it would come back to him in the event you blew yourself up in class. As 99% of Mainland Chinese think only of themselves, and 1% of anyone outside of the family, much better for him to act his nature and stick it to you and the school.

Some quick Googling makes it appear that you are a first. Congratulations!

[Babala]

Henan is super strict with requirements and rules. I'm sure it was just one random guy who decided you could be threat but the FEC office in Zhengzhou is ridiculously picky about every little thing.

Thing is it's not easy to get teachers to come to Henan. I want to go to the FEC office and say "dude, this is Henan. Do you really think it's easy getting people to WANT to come here"

[Non Sequitur]

My former student who is from Henan says many of her friends would like to move back there to work and be closer to family. She says there are just not the openings for grads with good degrees from Eastern coastal cities to work at anywhere near their worth.
I agree that it is odd that an economically deprived area would place obstacles in the path of FTs.
When I started it was said that if you had less than perfect credentials look at jobs in more Westerly provinces.

[twowheel]

[Babala]

I live in Pingdingshan Henan. My city has 6 active coal mines. The people here are very friendly but I do struggle trying to find teachers who are willing to come to place that is not modern and very few foreigners.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

When I first arrived in China, I had stamps in my passport from the Near East. The FAO took me to the PSB where they took my passport and gave me a pretty stern look. It took over a month for them to return the passport.

The new passport shows no stamps from the Near East, and aside from having to take an occasional second ecg , things proceed smoothly.

I agree with Wicked Stepmother, but I believe that the scrutiny is nothing new, considering the alleged incidents in western China over the past decade or so.

[backtochina2017]

Calling it Middle East or Near East is pretty Eurocentric. I don't know why people complain about China's usage but hypocritically throw in their own which is just as xenophobic.

[astrotrain]

[Non Sequitur]

I'll ask my former student why this might be. Maybe the authorities are under pressure to provide jobs for their own grads and FTs are taking these.
A while ago there was some talk of BJ wanting schools to hire returning grads from Anglophone countries to do the FT role.
My friend said returning grads have so much debt that they could never repay on FT rates of pay. Plus she said there would be huge loss of face to have spent 4 years in Oz say to come back to a beginning teachers' role.

[jimpellow]

[Non Sequitur]

Interesting Jim. My student is from Luoyang (sp) which is about an hour from Henan capital. She attended the only Foreign Language Middle School there.
She mentioned that for English writing and comprehension the classes were 60 and taught by a Chinese teacher. For English conversation taught by an FT the class was split into 2x30 sub classes.
It would be hard to imagine getting any kind of worthwhile Oral English going at a 60 student class size.
NS

[Babala]

I teach at a public uni here. My school is good and my average class size is about 25. I would say that 70% of the students here come from villages. I am the first foreign teacher that most of them have ever had. They don't start taking English until middle school so their English level in considerably lower than students coming from Jiangsu or Guangdong.

Because Henan is the most populous province, it has the hardest Gaokao. There is fierce competition to get into good schools.