Job Discussion Forums

[pompomouse]

How do holidays work within the NET program?

Are they set (all NETS take holidays between week A and week B)?

Are they negociable (can I ask for two specific weeks for the beginning of August 2006)? Should ( or can) I have this written in my contract?

If you could give me an idea of what the summer calendar is like under the NET program that would be great. I have been recommended for hire for the PNET program, and am in the midst of getting my documents verified, but no job offers yet.

Thanks

[Zero Hero]

Obviously you cannot take holiday during term time. Outside of term, your holidays depend to a certain extent on the school head, who is advised to allow a set minimum of weeks of holiday a year. I believe heads are instructed to give NETs a minimum of a 4-week summer break.

When I was on the NET scheme I enjoyed 3 months of holiday a year, including a 6-week stretch in summer. It is great to be sitting on a beach in Thailand and still be paid a minimum of $1,000 HK a day! It certainly goes a long way and really makes you wonder why anyone would ever do any other job anywhere else. I used to go away at Easter, at Christmas, and of course during summer.

One great thing about working as a teacher in HK is that you benefit from the confluence of cultures. Not only do you receive traditional Chinese holidays (more than the Mainland in fact as they do not celebrate events such as Dragon Boat Festival or Big Buddha's Birthday) but you also get many British holidays off, too!

Having said all that, to be quite frank, I think I used to do a 12-month workload in 9 months.

[arju]

sadly the holidays are a lottery and the principal of your school will decide when and how many of the set holidays you are given...the studnets are given 90 days but teachers are required to work many of these...local teachers often get very little of the holidays....the basic belief in hk is sunday is the only real holiday and other days are work day possiblities......you may be lucky and get a principalwjo understands as an expat teacher you will wnat to return to your country and will need more of the holidays to do this....many nets are not lucky and have horror schools who have reduced their holidays to a few weeks in summer.....negotiation is the key....you need to negotiate verything///
when you ahve holidays you have to advise the principal in a letter of your time out of hong kong.... good luck ps i am very lucky to get everyday of ther holidays and have done os for the past 3 years

[starfall]

Yes, do bear in mind that "holidays are for the children only". As stated before, you may get a considerate school who will give you the holidays stated, or you may not. You might find yourself booking a holiday and then having to cancel it at the last minute because the school requires that you attend a function or do a duty.

I myself am lucky in that I've been given all my holidays, but I did have to spend a couple of days this Easter doing some planning and I have offered to work one day this summer, since the local teachers only have a fortnight off. It causes less resentment this way.