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winterlynx1

We talk a lot about working conditions for foreign teachers. What about the Chinese staff? Are they treated well? Respected? Paid on time? Valued?

I think the staff at our school are well treated, but some times I get the impression that their contribution is undervalued. What about where you work? Stories?

Steppenwolf · Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 1769

These are the conditions a teacher friend of mine has to put up with:

Hired a year a a month ago no hope of switching jobs at this moment (teachers in China must have experience!).

Salary: 1200 yuan a month, I forgot to ask about perks but I doubt there are housing and travel allowances though the person in question gets a monthly salary even during the holidays plus 2 monthly salaries as a n annual bonus. I wrote TWO monthly salaries of RMB 1200!

Workload: 14 hours a week.

Meetings: every week, often scheduled in extremis and communicated by SMS!

COrvee work: the principal decided two weeks ago that recent hirees have to work 3 hours extra for free; my friend now spends 3 hours every Saturday teaching "special interest English" classes.

In addition, the principal and other "leaders" ask young female teachers to accompany them once a term to an KTV lounge and show good humour and manners. Sometimes the "leaders" forget what "good manners" really are and expect the ladies to do things they would never volunteer for... My friend managed to avoid hassles last time but one of her colleagues had the surprise of one of the male "leaders" bargein in into her apartment when she and her boyfriend were lying in bed. The "leader" looked on unperturbed, then slammed the door and left.

In addition to the 2 monthly bonuses my friend is entitled to take part in a paid excursion; foreign teachers have to pay for joining them. On the other hand, those FTs get paid substanitally higher salaries though they have no right to any bonus. They even have to pay for their visa/RP!

Calories · Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 361 Location: Chinese Food Hell

I don't know. I don't think it polite to ask.

englishgibson · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 4345

Many do not get decent deals at all....not remotely Wink

Some get that 1,200 monthly and they get paid sometimes on the 12th of every month (for the work done the previous month, so almost half a month salary is held back)...for that money they often work looooong hours and get that one day off Smile

...in private establishements they are often asked to go beyond their job duties Smile

There are many Chinese and if one does not like his/her job there's a "quick replacement' available Smile

Peace to Chinese employers
and
cheers and beers to the hard working FTs and Chinese in China Very Happy

Leon Purvis · Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:24 pm Post subject:

There are so many automobiles parked on the sidewalk in the Chinese housing area that I can't help but believe that the older ones who have paid their dues are probably doing alright. I know that I can't afford to own an automobile in China.

vikdk · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 1676

Well you aint allowed to buy a car through instalments! More married couples here are bringing in the 5000/month mark - get mums/dads/aunties/uncles to help with the initial downpayment - free company/family house - survive on 1000/month for basics - still leaves 2000/month to meet the car payments and a bit left over for fun. Car ownership is obviously within reach of a lot of people here who dont have half the earning potential of us FT's - but still very much at the limits - or beyond - for an ordinary married chinese teacher couple.

william wallace · Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 2869 Location: in between

mondrian · Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:14 am Post subject:

At my Uni the new Chinese teachers get about 2500RMB a month. After about 15 years it rises to 4800RMB. At least these are the figures for the English and IT Departments. They all have Masters degrees and a couple have PhDs.
That is your compounded salary with all the little extras, not the basic (which I suspect is about 2/3 of this figure).

Drizzt · Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 229 Location: Kyuushuu, Japan

At my last job in Shanghai the Chinese teachers are the college where I taught made roughly the same as I did (around 4,500 RMB a month), although they had office hours and I didn�t. I am also unsure if they had a housing allowance as I did.

Shanghai is much more expensive than other parts of China however.