Job Discussion Forums

[carol_engels]

I am not annoyed or offended by the remarks made in the"Sochi worst school in Russia" thread about me. The whole point that I am making is that it pays to be suspicious in this business. It was my trusting nature that led me to believe the lies that this school in Sochi told me and so I paid the price.
They are quite right to doubt me and also to ask for an objective account of the school. No account can be entirely objective but I will do my best.

The first thing that I noticed when I read the contract was "teachers cannot refuse to take classes." I thought it was odd but later I was to discover that the teenage students were so rude (I am known as a thick skinned person) that teachers had just refused to teach them. There was also a clause stating that a $50 fine was payable if the teacher missed the pick up time at the airport. Of course I was late and had to pay � it was just another way of decreasing your pay.
The job was offered to me over the internet � I did not apply for it. The person who wrote the e-mail said that his name was Alexandra Kaminski and that he was the owner of the school. This was a lie � the owner of the school does not speak any English.
After seeing the state of the school and then the flat I wanted to go home. Both were falling to pieces and the toilets did not work. The smell alone was disgusting. There were no blankets in the flat and when I asked to borrow a blanket or two from the school they said they would see but never came up with any blankets. It took me three days to buy a blanket as I speak no Russia and they would not help. This was in December.
No matter, I was determined to proceed. In a short time I started to hear rumours about how other teachers had been mistreated and had left. The students all hated the owner of the school and were constantly complaining that they had been ripped off in one way or another. For example, the course book were sold in the local bookshop but student had to buy their books from the school at twice the price � if they did not then they were not allowed to attend classes and would lose whatever money they had paid for the course.
In order to make more money all students were moved on to the next level. This made teaching very difficult as I gave one student 15% in her test and she did not have any idea what was going on in the next class. The turn over among students was very high and most left after rowing with the owner about money. This probably accounts for the rudeness of so many students.
I stuck it for 3 months - by then I believed the rumours that no one got the airfare paid, or was paid for the last month. After all, if they cheated 10 year olds why should they worry about me? When I read the complaints on this website about the school ,by other teachers who had worked there, I did not want to wait around.
Like the others I had big problems getting my visa � all visa costs had to be paid for by the teacher. There is more to say but this message is too long already - please see messages from other teachers. Most of teachers that worked for the school have also complained on this website � it is a small school and most of the time they have no native English speaking teacher � although it says on their website that all their teachers are native English speakers.
I feel sorrier for the students than I do the teachers.
(By the way nobody ever got fired from this place - the very idea is humourous.)

[carol_engels]

How DO you delete a message ?

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Thank you for your input, Carol; we have been duly warned!

[coledavis]

Yes, thanks Carol, and sorry once again. The suspicious comments weren't meant as personal attacks. All the best. Cole