Job Discussion Forums

[ESLMaster]

There are not too many posts about the HK NET SCHEME, so maybe this is a good sign...BUT:

Basically, I'm doing A LOT of research on the NET scheme. (awaiting an interview) I am currently a JET in Japan, and realize that maybe I didn't do enough homework before coming here. I have a MA in TESOL and love teaching...but I came to Asia to explore the culture, enjoy my work and save some money...All of which is either too expensive or too exhausting to do in Japan...haha! So with that in mind, I'd like to ask you:

1) Would you recommend SNET or PNET? why?

2) How are holidays, days-off, sick leave? Easy to take? Or hell?

3) Would you say the pay is good enough for a "non-party-animal" to live-on and save some?(Salary compared to moderate living expenses ie. internet service, phone, mobile phone, and tv included))

If one came in at the base-pay, could it support two people at all?

4)Is your workload managable, or are you given impossible teaching tasks, within impossible time-frames?

5) Japan can be so Brain-Numbing at times... in your opinion, how is HK on mental stimulation...? Things to see and do... culture... (outside of getting drunk and stumbling home...this is not my idea of entertainment)

6) Is there any kind of NET community contact (like the on the JET program?)

7) If you could do it again...would you? or are you looking for greener pastures?

For any former JETs on the program...who did you get your "Statement of Service" letter from? I can not really ask my Kyoto-sensei...because I may end up recontracting...you know?.....


THANKS SO MUCH!!!!

[Scott in HK]

Okay...I will try to address each of your questions. But I want to stress that every NET's experience is different....your quality of life depends on your school.

If you get through the interview process and a school contacts you...you must get some things straight immediately before you sign a contract with that school.

check on your holidays....90 days in the contract with the added clause that teachers can asked to work during the holidays...

check your weekly load...some teachers have to work saturdays and this tends to make them grumpy

check how they are going to use you...all orals....all lower forms...one teacher i know spent his entire week just teaching phonics....

Secondary or Primary....i thought they were two different applications...you apply either for secondary or primary....the choice would depend on your experience...they only count the years that you taught the target group....so you can't use primary experience in the secondary scheme....

sick...varies from school to school but basically i haven't heard any horror stories....i can take a day off at any time for sick leave with just a call to the school in the morning...some schools need doctor's notes for everything....

holidays...as i said check...i get them all...and there are a lot

pay....yours won't be great because you don't have a teaching certificate...you will be capped out at about 23K a month if you have at least 6 years of experience...but you do start at 17K and with the allowance that is 30K....and you can save easily on this...i would think about 10K a month...which is about 2K canadian...maybe more...

it is enough to live on with a partner as the only extra cost would be food and maybe some utitlities...and if your partner finds a job then they can add to your income....lots of part time teaching and under the table tutorial work to do....

my workload is easy....i teach upper forms and i have taught the same classes for five years...others have it much harder...check with your school before you sign

Hong Kong is filled with things to do...i don't do them as i am married with a kid and with in the new territories...but my friends in the city have a good time...

There is a group called NESTA that can help you out...you will get some sort of newsletter at your school within the first month...

I have been here for 5 years which means i have re-signed twice...so obviously i did it again..but at the end of this contract and my sixth year that is enough....the money is great...i have a teaching cert and eight years experience...their are no greener pastures money wise...but the teaching is dull and my korean wife wants to go home so...i am out of here at the end of my contract

[ESLMaster]

Thanks for your help...I have a Masters in TESOL...is this not considered a teaching certificate in Hong Kong?

[Scott in HK]

I don't think a MA is considered a teaching certificate in any country. They want you to be qualified to teach public school in your own country.

The big difference seems to be the practicum that b'ed take during their degree....when i applied that were insistent that they have a letter stating exactly how long my practicum was from the schools where i taught.

The idea behind the NET program was to take qualified teachers from English speaking countries and see if they could 'change the system' from within...it has been failure for the most part. But certified teachers still make more money than MA grads....in fact if you have a TESOL diploma...you will also get the same as a MA.

If you have the teaching cert. and an MA...the MA adds nothing to your salary.

[Peter]

The Guardian newspaper has an Education section, within there is an ESL section.
One of the articles is about the experience of a teacher in one of the lowest decile schools in HK.
The whole ESL section is a good intro for ESL in general

[Roger]

I think, Scotts47 has filled you in well. I have no NET experience, but I have worked in HK and am rather familiar with the place, so I just want to add a few observations as a sideline.

If you want to live in Asia but can't forego Western creature comforts, then HK is the place to be! It certainly has the ideal mix of modernism and traditionalism, Europe and Asia! You have an enormous selection of restaurants, albeit pricey ones. Cheaper ones tend to be in the Indian subcontinent range, luckily my preference!
HK has an excellent transport system and the best buses, trains, hovercraft money can buy!

If you don't speak the local language, you hardly ever get lost. Signs are usually bilingual, and you invariably bump into someone willing to help.

There are great outdoors - country parks, islands with no motor traffic, mountains that go as high as 950 meters. Even in the city, you find leafy trees and parks. HK is a city of minorities, of all religions. There are great libraries too.

But life is rather hectic. Crowds get at times unbelievably dense. Chinese are rather noisy. YOu may be privy to your neighbours bedroom antics or to quarrels in the house. They use mobile phones just about anywhere. While spitting is not so widely practised, other dirty habits are ineradicable, such as throwing rubbish out the window, or discarding it in parks.

As for teaching in HK, I would add that some kids may be very obedient and polite, but you can't count on being posted to such a class. Kids from wealthy backgrounds tend to be rather obnoxious because their parents simply assume that money buys any education, and diligence is not a must-have quality in their kids.
Recently, to my surprise, a local newspaper carried an item on physical violence in some schools. In fact, an Aussie female teacher got manhandled by a teenager student! She had to go to hospital, and the principal at her school was reported to have commented "so what...? It could have been WORSE!"
A veteran NET, one Mrs Bunce, thereupon commented through the Letters column that this was by no means an isolated case of bad student behavior! Unfortunately, it appears to be so common that it makes hardly any headlines!

I am not claiming I have personal experience of physical abuse - far from it. But I do believe this sort of deportment is to be found.
Just take a MTR train or the KCR and watch how commuters stampede, push and shove their way into the carriages before those inside get out!

[foster]

Thank you to Scott and everyone who answered the ESL master's questions. I too have an interview in Hong Kong for the NET program next month and was concerned about many of the things that ESL mentioned.

I recently received an email from the NET saying that they will pay 1000$HK towards our travel....that seemed like a rather generous offer for just coming for an interview, which makes me think they are serious about hiring.

Did anyone else receive this email?

Again...thanks SO much for the information guys. If anyone wishes to email about more information, that would be greatly appreciated.

Tanya

[Egas]

Hi Forster,

I've got an interview in about three weeks for the NET scheme. As others here have suggested, I'll wait until I get an offer from a school before committing. Experience has taught me that the negotiation phase is absolutely vital. Not only should you be explicit about what you want, you should trust your gut instinct about the people you are dealing with.

I've got a fair bit of experience and high school qualifications behind me, so I should get something out of it. I'll wait and see.