Job Discussion Forums

maotouying · Joined: 16 May 2005 Posts: 119 Location: My Chair In China

I do not know if this is done, but a black list of schools in China to avoid. Perhaps by Province would be best.

I put my recent school I just finished on this listing FIRST.

The school is located in the East side of ShiJianZhuang.

ShiJiaZhuang Information Engineering Vocational College.

They offer a small amount of pay, about 3500-4000 RMB perh month.

They do not provide a good contract, and they do not sign it, or "RED" seal it to make it an official contract, and they do not give the contract to you at the moment you sign it, and drag out time to give the contract to you..

I injured my foot last year, broke my ankle on both sides, and during my recovery period, they did not provide healthy living conditions

They paid late the monthy salary many times.

They do not honor the contract for not paying the correct amount of salary in the month of January covering a period from that time till the second semester period, and they do not pay during the Spring Festival, which is in agreement to the signed contract.

The living conditions are like staying in a shoe box, which is "OK" for a single person, for about 2 months, after that you will become annoyed with it.

The contract and the so called school appendix/attachment, the attachment places one in a bind, where you cornered. It contradicts the signed National contract.

Every teacher there for 2004/05 terms, were somewhat taken advantage of one way or another. Their contracts were not completely signed nor sealed.

Even I took my complaint's to the Foriegn experts Affairs, and won the judgement of the school to settle matters by the 1st of May this year, the school dragged out all settlements with me and are still doing so, and have not settled the matters concerning my 10 point comlaint against the school and the contract violations. Which I doubt if I will ever get settled with them now.

AVOID A TEACHING CONTRACT with this school at all cost.
There web site is

Even students at this school are not happy with the school. They inform potential future studenst not to come there.

http://www.sjziei.com/

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

Chris_Crossley · Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:57 am Post subject: Re: Schools to avoid Hebie

gulam2 · Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 137

Thank you for the information Moutouying.
It takes courage to complain and you are often called to question.
Its only through teachers complaining that the profession will improve and
some of the bad schools will have to mend their ways.
However you will discover that people (recruiters, web-site owners, some old lags) will not thank you for "rocking the boat".
I beleive many many teachers (I know a few) finish a bad contract are cheated or lied to and just go home and accept the experience.
If, however, you beleive in education you should try and improve it, and that includes complaining.
If you dont mind being grilled you should also put your complaint on www.buxiban.com - mentor list.

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

I think that it is nice to see that you took the time to outline clearly what your experiences were. Your comments are very readable and make it easy for a teacher who may be considering a position at that school to decide whether or not they should take it.

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

nolefan · Joined: 14 Jan 2004 Posts: 1458 Location: on the run

It seems like schools in Shijiazhuang are getting worse and worse as time goes by. The horror stories that I hear everytime i visit are frightening. Salaries keep going down, benefits are being cut, and the list goes on.

I was at a meeting there a few weeks ago where a famous private school offered a fully qualified teacher 4000RMB/month for 25 hours of teaching per week. They also wanted to add mandatory overtime for 65 RMB/hour not to mention that they would not provide kitchen utensils in the flat..... really. I nearly laughed them out of the building. They somehow managed to find some guy from boston to sign that contract......
That same school used to offer 5500RMB/month for 22 hours with all the perks just a few months back.

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

With your subjective criteria I am sure no CHinese employer is capable of providing "HEALTHY (sic!) LIVING CONDITIONS - whether you break your leg or sprain your ankle.

What does "living in a shoe box" mean? Are you so tiny that you can turn in a shoebox? If so, you no doubt got a huge shoe box for you to live in! I don't understand your complaint. It shouldn't have been posted here in the first place. Late payment? What's the problem? That happens everywhere - live with it and complain only if they short-change you!
2500 to 4000 in Shijiazhuang is not substandard.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

mlalahoi · Joined: 03 Jul 2005 Posts: 54 Location: China

I am with nolefan on this one, schools in SJZ offer pretty low salaries, however I do think that Roger's estimate of 2500 not being substandard is low even for this town, the standard deal in SJZ in 4000rmb with private apartment utilities paid. Just my 2 cents

jg · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 9:00 am Post subject:

gulam2 · Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 137

Complaining about the complainers.
Whining about the whiners.
Yes this is TEFL in China.
But it is nice to see that not all readers are fooled by quantity.

nolefan · Joined: 14 Jan 2004 Posts: 1458 Location: on the run

I'm not gonna take sides on this one but we have to wake up and smell the coffee at some point. Not all schools are reliable or trustworthy and neither are all of the foreign teachers here.

Yes, there are many cases where certain schools with a bad rep prey on innocent fresh meat upon arrival in China. Such situations can be avoided by using a simple google search and/or reading these forums to know what to expect.

What are the schools supposed to do when they get a rotten teacher? There are ample cases of teachers trying to have affairs with their students, not showing up to class, getting drunk and then going to class, etc.... the list can go on. I have met quite a few of these so-called teachers and they always find someone or something to blame for their mess.

And here comes the mighty internet where nothing is to be taken at face value. One person's nigthmare school is another's paradise. Most folks would have jumped ship if they had arrived at my uni at the same time as I did.. wouldn't have blamed them at all. heck, i considered the midnight run myself once or twice. but I stuck around and now we're treated like royalty at the school. We have other teachers there who hate it and can't leave yet it's the same school, same living arrangements, and all.

Roger has been around long enough to know what he is talking about. If someone signs a contract for X amount of salary, they can't turn around and complain about it every couple of days... it was their choice to sign. you sign on the line, do the bloody time. learn from it and move on.