Job Discussion Forums

[guru]

Not quite 1001 questions but I have a few. If people would be able to answer some or any of my quaestions I would be most grateful.


I am married with 3 ids (4 and under). I have a Master of applied Linguistics (TESOL) Master of Education, Bachelor of Education (PE) and the CELTA. I am very interested in the NET scheme.

1. Would my masters in Linguistics be highly regarded though my teaching qualification is in PE?

2. Do my years of teaching PE count toward salary increment?

3. How much does basic health insurance cost?

4. How much does a live-in maid cost?

5. Do houses and apartements usually have a maid's room as standard?

6. Are there any other options for schooling kids other than international schools?

7. Do any NETers put their ids in local schools? If so what's the cost?

8. How much holidays do NETs get on average in reality?

9. How long is the summer holiday in reality?

10. What penalties exist for breaing the contract?

11. Does NET pay for visas etc for family members?

12. Does NET help with the immigration for family members?

13. With my qualifications and 11 years full time teaching (6 in English) how much would that be for salary approximately?

14. Does everyone get the 15% gratuity?

15. Can interviews be done via video conferencing? (I'm in Indonesia)



Thanks if you can respond.

[Scott in HK]

1. Would my masters in Linguistics be highly regarded though my teaching qualification is in PE? The HK Ed cares more about your teaching experience and whether you have a teaching certificate...the Masters might help you since you didn't study a language in your B'Ed...that is important to the ED...your teachable might be a problem...but the other degrees could make up for it..all you can do is apply and see what happens...

2. Do my years of teaching PE count toward salary increment? As far as I know every year of full time teaching (teaching the target age...eg if you applied to be a secondary net...then they just count the years you taught secondary students) counts towards your movement up the pay scale. But all of my years were in teaching English so you might want confirmation.

3. How much does basic health insurance cost? You get basic health insurance just be being a HK resident. You can get more but the NET subsidy is not enough to get insurance for your family. I lived there for six years as a NET with no extra insurance.

4. How much does a live-in maid cost? $3600 a month plus extras like food, insurance and flights home. We had an illegal part time maid so I don't know that much about it.

5. Do houses and apartements usually have a maid's room as standard? No it is not standard....maids often sleep with the younger kids...or some people have converted space in the home for them. We lived out in Fairview Park, a suburb by the China border and the houses there often had small rooms.

6. Are there any other options for schooling kids other than international schools? Home school of course, but besides that I am not sure. We left before our kids were old enough for school. You could look at getting work at an international school, they often pay for schooling. School costs were one thing that teachers with kids complained about. Eats at that big salary.

7. Do any NETers put their ids in local schools? If so what's the cost? You might be able to get your child into an English medium school, I don't know the details.

8. How much holidays do NETs get on average in reality? I got all of my holidays except a couple of weeks every other summer. But each Net's experience will be different...all meant about 90 days...

9. How long is the summer holiday in reality? The first year you might be expected to do summer duties...every hk teacher has too...but the second year of your contract...the whole holiday is yours to enjoy.

10. What penalties exist for breaing the contract? You have to pay back any advance you got...as well as airfare...which can be a lot if they flew your family over.

11. Does NET pay for visas etc for family members? You pay for all visas...your work visa and your family's dependent visas...

12. Does NET help with the immigration for family members? No, you do it yourself and it is real easy.

13. With my qualifications and 11 years full time teaching (6 in English) how much would that be for salary approximately? If they count every year..you start at 19K a month..11 more for each year...that is 30K add the special allowance...10.5...and you have a salary of about 40-41K a month...(not absolutely certain about it...others can chime in)

14. Does everyone get the 15% gratuity? I heard stories of school's trying to keep it back...but just heard...everyone I know got their gratuity.

15. Can interviews be done via video conferencing? (I'm in Indonesia) Don't know...but I do know that if they want to interview you..they might just fly you to Hong Kong.

[Peaches En Regalia]

1. Would my masters in Linguistics be highly regarded even though my teaching qualification is in PE?

Actually, Masters degrees do not even enter into the equation (at least not as regards the pay scale). A degree in education is more 'highly regarded' in this respect. Having said that however, it may well help 'off the record', as it were, in terms of interest shown in you. However, linguistics is a large field, as I'm sure you know. What area of linguistics is your Masters in? General? Generative? Applied? If the latter, in what area? Corpus linguistics? SLA? Translation?

2. Do my years of teaching PE count toward salary increment?

I would not know. As I understand it, however, any years spent teaching at any institution that is recognised by the EMB count towards the salary increment. However, you must at all times be aware that only post-qualification experience counts in this regard. They are not willing to pay for 'experience' that was gained prior to qualification (for reasons so obvious we need not discuss them here - in short, such 'experience' could simply constitute fossilisation of bad habits).

3. How much does basic health insurance cost?

That obviously would depend on what sort of cover you sought, your age, state of health, and a whole host of other factors. However, most standard packages cost as little as $200 a month.

4. How much does a live-in maid cost?

$3,000 a month for a girl from the Philippines. That is for six days (and nights) a week. If you take a maid from Indonesia it is the same price but they are willing to work seven days a week (for the full two years).

5. Do houses and flats usually have a maid's room as standard?

At the top end of the market, yes. Indeed, some have two as standard. However, such homes can cost anywhere between $20,000 and $75,000 a month (!) Most maids sleep with the kids, or in the lounge once everyone else has retired for the night. Some maids even sleep on a camp bed in the kitchen (!) Your best bet (and I would strongly recommend you get a maid if you do come to live and work in HK) would be to opt for a villa-style home like myself and simply get one that has what to you is a spare room. You can put the maid in there. That way you will also have more privacy.

6. Are there any other options for schooling kids other than international schools?

You can have full-time private tuition if you have the requisite permission from the EMB. Needless to say, however, this costs a tidy sum. Personally, I would say that there were not too many alternatives to the international school route.

7. Do any NETs put their ids in local schools? If so what's the cost?

I have never heard of such a thing. If you come to HK you will soon see why. HK schools are quite 'unique'. At the university at which I work there was once a naive couple who opted to place their kids in a local HK school (a 'top' one). They withdrew their offspring within two weeks.

8. How much holidays do NETs get on average in reality?

The same that your teachers got when you were at school as a kid: 3 months a year fully paid (in reality).

9. How long is the summer holiday in reality?

Anywhere between 6 and 9 weeks (depending on the school, read, 'the principal').

10. What penalties exist for breaking the contract?

You do not receive your bonus and obviously have to pay back any monies borrowed.

11. Do NETs pay for visas etc for family members?

Yes, of course. Who else would pay?

12. Does NET help with the immigration for family members?

No. In fact, you must understand that your spouse and any other dependants do not have any automatic right to a work visa - ever. Many, many dependants can be - and are - flatly rejected when they apply for such a visa. Although this is not exactly overly common, it is also not exactly unheard of.

13. With my qualifications and 11 years full time teaching (6 in English) how much would that be for salary approximately?

Again, this depends on whether it was pre- or post-qualification. Also, only those years which can be fully documented and referenced are accepted (and they do check documentation and references with a fine tooth comb).

14. Does everyone get the 15% gratuity?

Everyone who finishes their two-year contract, yes.

15. Can interviews be done via video conferencing? (I'm in Indonesia)

I have never heard this. The EMB hold interviews in different countries around the world however (Canada, Australia, etc.)

[guru]

Thanks a miillion for your responses. Quite informative! My linguistics degree is Master of Applied Linguistics (TESOL). I got knocked back from Brunei because my Bachelor degree was in Ed (PE).

[travelem]

[Champion...the wonderdog]

I didn't renew my contract as a NET, after four years on the scheme because it would have cost a fortune to educate my child.

We would have had to move nearer to an ESF school, either Shatin or Tsing Yi and then, there was no guarantee that he could get a place.

In the New Territories (Tin Shui Wai/Yuen Long), there are a couple of English-Speaking schools, but I can't comment on the quality. Put it this way, they were prepared to put my son 'up' by two years because he's a native speaker!

This particular school lost the few ex-pat kids they had and apparently, a few went to the Norwegian School, which isn't too pricey and has small classes. It's a Lutheran school.

A live-in is now$3240 per month, but you need to pay $400 to the govt. I got my helper from the NET egroup, so skipped the agency fee. According to colleagues, Indonesians are much cheaper at $2000 and they only give them one day off a month. This is illegal and the $3240 is the minimum wage. You are no longer allowed to have your maid living out.

There are always ways around the legalities, but naturally you're taking a chance.

Immigration has clamped down on spouses working, although I've known a couple to do supply work and they weren't qualified teachers! That was in Yuen Long, though.

The Yuen Long area is about the cheapest in HK. Fairview Park has a coach to the ESF school in Shatin, but it takes about an hour and a quarter each way. One local friend's daughter just to fall asleep in the playground, lunchtime etc. because she was so tired due to all the travelling.

Personally, I think that HK is a terrible place to bring up kids. My son was always being touched, bullied in the local kinder (only ex-pat), got sick a lot, however it was brilliant having a maid.

One last thing about maids. If you do come, ask at your school about maid insurance. The Chinese take out insurance against any debts their maid may have, because as the maid's employer, you are liable for any debts that they incur. It's supposed to be a common occurence. My maid did have a big debt, but I sorted it out for her and she paid me back a little each month. She also went home about six times in two years. At the end of the two year contract, I had to give her a whopping severance package. With her flights home, we used to go halves. She was a high school Economics teacher who was also an excellent swimmer.

BTW Ludwig/Peaches/Zappa fan, I was on the NET scheme, so don't start on me AGAIN.

[once again]

Champion..you are so lucky to be out of Hong Kong now. How terrible it all must have been for you. I hope you have got over such a traumatic experience. Having to pay a maid around 9 HK dollars an hour and then her having the cheek to go home 6 times in 2 years must have been traumatising. I believe there is a domestic helper employers helpline that can help you get over such things. Best of luck.

[Champion...the wonderdog]

Hey 'Once Again', don't get me wrong, I didn't have a problem with my helper going home whenever she wanted.

Obviously, you've never employed a domestic helper or helped out a domestic helper's family and perhaps, before you cast aspersions about my experience, you should share your comments on raising children in HK and hiring domestic helpers.

I'm merely sharing my experience and if you spent less time denigrating members' contributions, perhaps more helpful discussion would ensue.

[once again]

You are perfectly correct. I misread your post, and now it seems I mistaken as to your tone. However, I would like to ask why you needed to pay a "whopping severance package" at the end of the contract?

[Ricci]

Hey hey keyboard! You say "Once Again is a fool." Who else favoured "fool" as his insult of choice? It's only a matter of time surely, before you are telling me that I don't live in HK and calling people trolls.