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kerrilee
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
Posts: 59
Location: Dalian, China
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 Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 11:02 am Post subject: Wow anyone seen this article? |
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Intersting article about EFL in China......
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/world/4088616.html
Worked without a proxy!
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Aug. 2, 2006, 12:06AM
A twist on sweatshops: Foreign English teachers complain of abuse at Chinese language schools
Associated Press
BEIJING � Tanya Davis fled Jizhou No. 1 Middle School one winter morning in March before the sun rose over the surrounding cotton fields covered with stubble from last fall's crop.
In the nine months Davis and her boyfriend had taught English at the school in rural north China, they had endured extra work hours, unpaid salaries and frigid temperatures without heating and, on many days, electricity.
Hearts pounding and worried their employer would find a pretext to stop them leaving, the couple lugged their backpacks, suitcase, books and guitar past a sleeping guard and into a taxi.
As they drove away, "the sense of relief was immense," said Davis, a petite, soft-spoken 23-year-old from Wales. "I felt like we had crossed our last hurdle and everything was going to be OK."
It's a new twist on globalization: For decades, Chinese made their way to the West, often illegally, to end up doing dangerous, low-paying jobs in sweatshop conditions. Now some foreigners drawn by China's growth and hunger for English lessons are landing in the schoolhouse version of the sweatshop.
In one case, an American ended up dead. Darren Russell, 35, from Calabasas, Calif., died under mysterious circumstances days after a dispute caused him to quit his teaching job in the southern city of Guangzhou. "I'm so scared. I need to get out of here," Russell said in a message left on his father's cell phone hours before his death in what Chinese authorities said was a traffic accident.
As China opens up to the world, public and private English-language schools are proliferating. While most treat their foreign teachers decently, and wages can run to $1,000 plus board, lodging and even airfare home, complaints about bad experiences in fly-by-night operations are on the rise. The British Embassy in Beijing warns on its Web site about breaches of contracts, unpaid wages and broken promises. The U.S. Embassy says complaints have increased eightfold since 2004 to two a week on average.
Though foreign teachers in South Korea, Japan and other countries have run into similar problems, the number of allegations in China is much higher because "the rule of law is still not firmly in place," said a U.S. Embassy official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"A number of substandard English language teaching mills have sprung up, seeking to maximize profits while minimizing services," the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee said in a recent report on Russell's case. These institutes have become virtual "'sweatshops' where young, often naive Americans are held as virtual indentured servants."
Davis said officials at her school in Hebei province piled on classes without compensation, dragged their feet on repairing leaks in her apartment and would deduct sums from her $625 monthly salary for random taxes and phone calls that were never made. These ranged from $30 to $85, she said.
She recalled nights without electricity when there was nothing to do but sit in candlelight.
The more "we let them get away with, the more they tried to get away with," said Davis, who now teaches piano in Beijing.
Numbers are hard to track. The Education Ministry said there was no record of how many language schools exist, because local governments administer them. Education bureau officials in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai � China's major metropolises � did not respond to telephone and fax requests for information.
China is in the midst of a frenzy to learn English, spurred by its emergence as an economic powerhouse and the approach of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The education system and privately run cram schools have ramped up to cater to the explosive demand for native English-speaking teachers.
"The market is huge," said Frank Dong, 38, manager of the American TESOL Institute in Beijing, which contracts about 100 teachers a year from outside China. "There is now a tremendous internal need that drives Chinese people to improve their English."
Wages offered range from $250 to $1,000 a month for an average of 20 hours per week, with overtime that varies. Housing is usually provided, and many schools promise about $1,000 in airfare home upon completion of a one-year contract.
Jobs offers teem on the Internet. On Dave's ESL Cafe, one of the most popular sites, more than 340 were posted in three months, ranging from positions in prosperous Zhejiang province in the east to the poverty-stricken grasslands of Inner Mongolia in the north.
But also on Dave's ESL Cafe is an anonymous warning from a teacher about a school in China's south.
"They will use you, abuse you, cheat you, and disrespect you," it says. "You will hear it all when they want you to sign the contract. Then after it's oh sorry that isn't in your contract or a bunch of excuses that go on and on."
There is no standard rule on contracts � some are in English, some in Chinese.
John Shaff, a graduate from Florida State University, said everything went according to his English-language contract at Joy Language School in the northeastern city of Harbin � until a disagreement over his office hours erupted into a shouting match on the telephone with a school official.
A few hours later, several men led by Joy's handyman showed up at his school-provided apartment, physically threatening him and cursing him in Chinese, said Shaff, 25. About 10 minutes later, they left, and soon, so did Shaff.
"They were all men who would have been formidable to fight," Shaff said in a telephone interview from San Francisco, where he now lives. The manager of the Joy chain did not respond to interview requests.
Like Shaff, Darren Russell had a disagreement with the manager of Decai language school in Guangzhou, where he had been promised 20 hours of classes a week. Instead, Decai had him teaching at two schools, where he put in up to 14 hours a day and oversaw 1,200 students, Russell's mother, Maxine Russell, said in a telephone interview from Calabasas.
The school had troubles with foreign teachers. Two had quit by the time Russell showed up, and a former Decai employee, a Chinese woman who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she left because she was asked to recruit foreign teachers by offering attractive contracts that went unfulfilled.
In April 2005, sick from bronchitis and exhausted from the work hours, Russell told manager Luo Deyi he wanted her to lighten his work load. An argument ensued, Russell resigned and threatened to tell police Luo was operating illegally, the former employee said.
The school then moved him into a low-budget hotel. A week later he was dead. Police told Decai and Russell's mother that Darren had been killed in a hit-and-run traffic accident. The body was shipped to California.
Maxine Russell, however, said Chinese authorities could not provide consistent witnesses and a time of death. According to the congressional report, which was the outcome of a family request to look into the Russell case, a California mortician who handled Russell's body said he had suffered a blow to his head and his body did not have bruises and fractures consistent with a car accident. The mortician, Jerry Marek, is a former coroner.
While Maxine Russell and the former Decai employee say Russell was a beloved teacher, Luo, the manager, insists he was often absent from class and his "teaching methods failed to meet the requirement of the school and fit the students." She said he had been hired on probation, which he failed partly because of a drinking problem.
"It was very strange and irresponsible for them to blame us for their son's death," Luo said in a telephone interview.
Maxine Russell denies Darren drank while teaching at Decai.
For Davis, coming to China meant an opportunity to see the world outside of Ystradgynlais, her Welsh village of 1,000 people. She said she loved her students, but long hours, foreign food, an ant problem, leaky pipes and a toilet that wouldn't flush became too much.
In the end, the school said Davis and her boyfriend could forgo the last two months of their assignment, as had been verbally agreed after they signed their contracts in June 2005, but the principal changed his mind the day before their departure and refused to be reasoned with, Davis said.
Repeated calls to Jizhou school by the AP were not answered.
"We were miserable," Davis said. "We'd come all this way and there was this feeling of helplessness."
The couple left behind books, 200 DVDs and most of Davis' winter clothes � now all too big for her because she had dropped 33 pounds from her 5'1" frame.
When they left the school that March morning, she said, they went to the railroad station to take a train to Beijing, but were so fearful they would somehow be made to stay that they instead hired a cab for the 200-mile trip.
On their way from school to the station, their cab driver happened to be playing the theme from "The Benny Hill Show" on tape.
"We just burst out laughing," Davis said.
They never collected their salary for their last month of work. |
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cj750
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Posts: 3081
Location: Beijing
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| Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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The China Post reported:
American woman is believed to be murdered in Beijing
2006/3/4
BEIJING, AFP
An American woman was found dead in Beijing, the U.S. embassy said Friday, amid reports she was robbed and stabbed to death inside her luxury home this week.
"She is an American citizen and there is an ongoing investigation," said a spokeswoman at the U.S. embassy in Beijing, who declined to elaborate.
Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post identified the victim as Tina Tai and said she died of multiple stab wounds Tuesday inside her home in Le Leman Lake villa -- a residential compound favored by wealthy expatriates.
The killer stole at least 20,000 yuan (US$2,470) from the apartment, the report said.
Residents living in the compound said police tried to cover up the killing by saying she died of a heart attack, according to the report, amid speculation a domestic worker was involved in the murder. The report did not say why the police might have wanted to cover up the murder.
Tai was the wife of an engineer with a U.S. energy firm, and the couple have one son, the report said.
A staff member at the Leman Lake villa surnamed Niu confirmed her death but declined to give any details.
"Yes, she is dead. Police and experts are investigating," Niu told AFP, refusing to comment further.
Beijing police did not respond to AFP's request for details on Friday.
Although crime has increased at a rapid pace in China with its two decades of economic opening, the killing of foreigners is relatively uncommon. |
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pandasteak
Joined: 01 Apr 2004
Posts: 166
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| Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 3:26 pm Post subject: |
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yeah. I found it via the Hao Hao Report, and I gotta say I found it really interesting. Here's an excerpt:
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It's a new twist on globalization: For decades, Chinese made their way to the West, often illegally, to end up doing dangerous, low-paying jobs in sweatshop conditions. Now some foreigners drawn by China's growth and hunger for English lessons are landing in the schoolhouse version of the sweatshop.
In one case, an American ended up dead. Darren Russell, 35, from Calabasas, Calif., died under mysterious circumstances days after a dispute caused him to quit his teaching job in the southern city of Guangzhou. "I'm so scared. I need to get out of here," Russell said in a message left on his father's cell phone hours before his death in what Chinese authorities said was a traffic accident. |
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ytuque
Joined: 08 Feb 2006
Posts: 55
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frank d
Joined: 07 Dec 2005
Posts: 155
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| Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 5:52 pm Post subject: A thousand thanks! |
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Kerrilee,
A thousand thanks for bringing this VERY IMPORTANT article to our attention!
I'll pass it along to others... |
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Outsida
Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 368
Location: Down here on the farm
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| Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 2:52 am Post subject: |
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| I understand you wanting to post this, Kerrilee, but this is not new information at all. The issues and the stories have already been posted on this forum dozens of times. |
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kerrilee
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
Posts: 59
Location: Dalian, China
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| Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 3:43 am Post subject: |
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| Sorry I have seen the individual incidents here I was just interested that it compared the sweat shops that the Chinese work in overseas to the schools FT's work in here. Sorry if it was something you all already knew. |
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frank d
Joined: 07 Dec 2005
Posts: 155
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| Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 4:34 am Post subject: Yes, but... |
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Outsida,
Yes, as you say, most of us teaching in China are all too familiar with these kinds of horror stories and unethical episodes. What makes this article so important is that the situation and conditions of working and living in China are finally being brought "into the light" to people living outside of China by the Associated Press. This article is finally bringing wider attention and legitimacy to the issues and stories we discuss here in ESL forums. |
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cartago
Joined: 19 Oct 2005
Posts: 283
Location: Iraq
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| Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 7:40 am Post subject: |
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I don't know why the couple from Wales were so afraid that they wouldn't be allowed to leave. Their situation sounded bad but it sounds like they're really making things dramatic. And if their electricity was out so often why did they buy 200 DVDs?
We have 2 branches of Joy Language School in Daqing. They often advertise on this board. I've never heard of them hiring goons to threaten people but I know quite a few people have walked out of the place. I briefly thought of working for them and the first question I was asked was if I'm white. |
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Sgt Killjoy
Joined: 26 Jun 2004
Posts: 438
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| Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Well cases like this are the exact reasons why teachers need a blacklist/greylist that they can turn to for advice. Hopefully teachers will use the resource and avoid situations like these. |
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Outsida
Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 368
Location: Down here on the farm
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| Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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No offence intended Kerrilee.
Personally, I found the article a little dramatic. "Endured" freezing days without electricity? All part of the adventure, really. This is the 3rd world, after all. And it's not like others weren't also suffering. |
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frank d
Joined: 07 Dec 2005
Posts: 155
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| Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 10:05 pm Post subject: You can't be serious! |
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Hello, AGAIN, Outsida, (and Cartago),
The article is a �little dramatic� you say? Then I can�t help but assume you�ve been much luckier than other FTs in your living and working experiences in China. I might agree with you about the �adventure� of it all, but I would also venture an educated guess that the person who endured several days of no heat and electricity had first responded to an ad, and later signed a contract which promised something like �apartment with all the modern amenities,� etc. I doubt she was given a proper advance portrayal of the true conditions she found herself living in, while others were profiting from her foreign face, teaching services, and misery.
Is China a �third-world country�? Yes, but in my three years experience here, and several working situations here, I have also noticed that those who were making money off of me were living in much higher-level accommodations than the ones provided to me, or colleagues. Most of them not only have personal cars, they have personal drivers as well. The poor people of China also enduring terrible daily life conditions are not the ones owning and operating English-language mills.
The one and only time I fled from a job and location was after numerous unfair and unreasonable living (and teaching) conditions were handed to me. One of the many fabulous features of this situation was frequent losses of electricity; but I noticed that the person who arranged the apartment for me, and also charged each of my students 4000RMB apiece above the standard annual tuition (66, 77, and 79 students in three different classes), just for the chance to have a foreign teacher, never had a day without electricity himself (or an apartment that flooded on a daily basis).
And to poster Cartago�
The episode I referred to just now, where I fled� I remember having the same genuine feeling of relief when I was in the taxi on my way to the airport (no easy feat as my place was on campus, behind a guarded gate, and under the watchful eye of many). My escape required assistance from a few empathetic others (foreign and Chinese) who also put themselves at risk. I too feared for my safety. My fears were confirmed when I received a message from the guy who has misled and mistreated me a few days later, telling me that he would �hunt me down like a dog!� Hopefully, that�s the one and only time I�ll have such a thoroughly hideous experience in China (although others have come mighty close�)
Regarding your confusion about the "goon" squad situation, as a smart means of self-preservation, I doubt people speak of this very openly and loudly about this special feature of the HR department and school management (at least not why they're still in China).
AGAIN, I think we should all be rejoicing that this article has been published in the mainstream press. |
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shuize
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1270
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| Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 12:50 am Post subject: |
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Letting unsuspecting teachers know what they might be getting themselves into is no doubt a good thing.
But I agree with the posts above. The article is overly dramatic. I suppose it has to be or nobody would read it. The reality is much less so: If you don't like your situation, give notice and leave. If, after resonable notice, the contract is still not being followed, cut your losses -- give notice and leave.
Never put yourself in a position which you feel you are being taken advantage of -- always, always keep enough cash on hand to be able to pack up and leave.
TEFL is a low rent profession. People will try to scam you -- Don't let them. Don't stay a situation where you are being scammed. If you do, you only have yourself to blame.
Personally though, I think midnight runs are lame. Man up and tell them why you're leaving -- or at least that you are leaving. |
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frank d
Joined: 07 Dec 2005
Posts: 155
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| Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:51 am Post subject: |
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As I said BEFORE, I did a �runner�� only ONCE during all of my various jobs here. �Man up� and "tell them you�re leaving�??? Oh, yeah, right, tell the guy that threatened to �hunt me down like a dog� in advance that I am leaving so that he has plenty of time to organize a goon squad? No thanks! I was in a remote city high on top a mountain, I doubt he would have personally driven me to the airport himself. If this had not been a potentially dangerous situation, then why would others have been so sympathetic and offered to help me escape?
I certainly told them dozens of times about the unreasonable conditions, and by the way, at that point, they had not arranged the Z visa conversion for me as promised, medical examination, noithing!
Sorry I am so "lame" in your eyes. It's a character flaw of mine, I prefer living to dying. |
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kev7161
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China
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| Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:36 am Post subject: |
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I think, sadly, the newcomers have no idea what to "prepare" themselves for. I certainly didn't! I thought I did, but the longer I spend in China, the more lessons I learn. I think the article is important for anyone considering a move to China, short term or longer. Was it fair and balanced (this coming from a FOX News hater)? No, not really, because there are a ton of good schools to, hopefully, balance the bad ones. It's too bad the article-writer couldn't have stuck a paragraph or two in the story spotlighting a good school or two.
But who made the comment about no electricity vs. buying 200 DVDs? That seems a little silly to me. Most of us who have spent any time here realize that there is often little to do at nights than to sit in front of the tube watching a 6 yuan flick. Has nothing to do with their poor working and living environment I think! |
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