Job Discussion Forums

[Halapo]

I thought some of the more entrepenurial and buisness-mined freelancers might like to know about what has changed in Jiangsu this year.

When I left last year there was a lot of talk in Jiangsu about fixing the senior high school system. The 16hour a day school, 6.5 days a week was to much for students, the college entry exams created to much pressure... Anybody who has taught high school in China will know what I mean.

Anyway, the shocker is they did make some changes. The Jiangsu government has set limits on how long the state run schools ( maybe even the private schools, not sure about that yet) can teach per day. Also the students get both Saturday and Sunday off. However the students will still have to pass the nationwide college entry exam.

This has left parents with greater concerns about their child's chances. How can their kid do well, when he is going to school less then every other kid in the country?

So now there are a flood of night schools targeting parents of high school students. I don't think this will be anything new in the larger cities in the province, but I teach in a city that only goes up to high school (and yet there are about 16 different high schools). There have never been many night schools because the students were already in school till 10:30pm.

Anyway, I am getting a flood of offers from "headmasters" to teach night class's. I am not that interested, I am more then happy with my 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. But I suspect that I might cave to a few of my students and tutor them in small groups ( max 5 ) a few nights a week ( like when I only have one class in the day).

I was wondering about some rates?
I have seen 100 yuan per hour per student. Seeing as I would be teaching students I want to teach, I am not looking to scalp them. I just don't want to sell myself cheap.

Also, how much do the parents pay for the night class's ( ie. the big groups)? I would like to know how much these headmasters are making off the fact that I am the only foreign teacher in town. I have no problem scalping the headmasters.

As I see it, this year would be a foreigners market, until these amateurs headmasters get the rookie ELS's into town. Even then I think many of them will run away when they find out nobody here speaks English.

[randyj]

This change in Jiangsu Province comes after student suicides. The authorities want to lessen the pressure on students. I believe the suicides occurred in Changzhou.

[Lobster]

I think that's a bit high for Jiangsu. I would try to arrange classes for 6-8 students and charge them 50rmb each. You'd be very popular and could fill 3-4 evenings a week. That would bring in as much as many teachers working there full time. That rate of course would mean that the students come to you. No travel.

Another option would be to just have 3, 2-hour classes on Saturday. Depends on how much you want to work.

RED

[Halapo]

Yes, these changes are a result of last year's suicide during the weeks leading up to the entry exams. From what I understand, the girl's death note was very moving, and after word got out about it, many other students wrote letters expressing their shared feelings.

Well, I just got back from a dinner with two of these headmasters. They didn't get down to "time and money" until the end of the 2 hour meal. They also were very free with the alcohol, sadly for them I am becoming an old hand when it comes to Chinese drinking.

They offered my 250 to teach give a 1 hour lecture to 30 paying guests. They seemed to think I would do it. They also thought I would do it on a weekend. I told them I would need to be paid "per guest" and it would have to have to start before 8pm on a weeknight.

I should also point out they don't think I can speak any Chinese ( I know a bit more then the basics). They were shocked by my response, and things wrapped up in sort order after that. They did not refuse outright. They plan on trying to wait me out, they think I am hard up for cash.

I like the idea of 6-8, it would work better for working in pairs then 5 anyway.

I am going to try to find out what they want to charge the students for these lectures.

We will see how that turns out.

[YankeeDoodleDandy]

Please let us know, what they will be charging per student, for your one hour class. I would not be surprised if it was 30 RMB per hour, per student !!! That leaves them with a tidy profit. Gambei !!!

[dragon777]

Halapo, you just s...t me a little for some reason!

[Halapo]

Yanky, I will only ever really find out if I ask a student at the lecture. The headmasters will tell me less then the real price. I think the students might tell me the real price, if they know. Odds are I will not find out until the day of, and only if I agree to do it.

Dragon, I can only assume that is a good thing.

Personally I take a secret pride in both haggling on the street and negotiating with these guys. It is way more fun then teaching, because I can let the devil in me run wild. Plus they really do think all foreigners are dumber then them.

I am guessing their comeback offer will be 350.

I can't wait till I point out to them that if I teach 6-8 students on my own I will make more then they are offering me, and I will do more to help those students.

[JamesD]

It would be interesting to see how the kids under the 'new system' perform on the national tests compared to past results from this area of the country. What could be even more interesting is to see how they incorporate into the working world after going through the system with a better balance of study/socialization time.
Granted the parents will attempt to fill the free hours with more private classes but it does look like the first effort authorities have made to recognize what "westerners" see as a negative aspect of Chinese education. Anything that gets them into any type of new environment (study hall or not) has to have a positive influence on their social/life skills.

So the government is willing to concede that there could be such a thing as too much studying. If only the parents were as worried about their kids quality of life as they are about their own retirement safety net.

[Halapo]

I am pretty sure Jiangsu is going to have lower scores after this year's entry exam.

Mostly because the current 3rd year student are used to the old system, they will not be able to manage their time well without the constant supervision they had before. Also the teachers are at a bit of a loss right now. They have to teach the same amount of information with far less time, as they see it. They have been given an order, but not the tools to carry it out.

I think that when the current first years write their entry exams in 3 years, the scores will be back to normal or even higher. I honestly think my students only need 2-3 more hours of sleep a day to become better students.

Sadly, I am scared that this experiment will be considered a failure after the first year.

You have to remember, parents today are the product of the one child policy. High school parents today know about the pressure an only child will feel first hand.

Some think that since they did it, their kids can as well.
Some think that the way they were raised is wrong, but what can they do.
Only few start to think outside the box, or actually learn what THEY can do to help their child do better.

[Halapo]

One other thing, this the school they are fronting.

"New Oriental Foreign Language School"
http://www.neworiental-k12.org/english/index.htm

Honestly, I know nothing about them. They claim to be big, but who doesn't?

I do find it odd they would send 2 guys who dont speak English to talk to me. I brought a young Chinese English teacher so carry the conversation.

They have offered jobs to the older teachers of other subjects, seeing as not only English will need tutors. But because they have passed up the younger teachers, they have given me some helpful allies I can almost trust.

[Dancing Monkey]

"I can't wait till I point out to them that if I teach 6-8 students on my own I will make more then they are offering me, and I will do more to help those students."

You might want to be careful how you say this because your contract might "forbid" outside employment. Of course, if the boss provides it it is Ok, but, if not......

[Halapo]

Not in this contract.

It is a very simple deal, and my FAO is actually a pretty good guy... And his son is living in my home country. My family lives near his son's school, they keep an eye on him and help him out, so my FAO does the same for me.
As long as I put my day class's first, he said he is fine with it.

But you are right, he could end my employment if he likes.

[Halapo]

Well they wont go past 350 for a one hour lecture to 30+ students. They think they can bus a few teaches in from Nanjing ( about 1.5 hours away ) on the weekends. I have made the trip a few times, it is 78 yuan one-way. So their offer of 200-250 yuan plus 156 for the bus... I don't think they will save any money that way. I am guessing they will ask again in a month.

However, another school sent somebody to wait outside my school and chat me up. They want me to do 2 hours on Saturday and Sunday in the afternoon. They were kind enough to send somebody who was very fluent in English, but was not able to negotiate ( or she said she couldn't ). I am guessing my counter offer was higher then she was told to accept. Plus I was not a fan of working on the weekend. I am guessing I will "bump into" her again near my school this week.

Only one of my students ( now in senior three, so thinking about the exam's ) has come and asked to tutoring. I have not made any final decisions or promises on that matter yet, but I offer to look over his work when I have free time during school hours.

[Halapo]

A late, but final Update:

I am not sure what happened to Jaingsu's plan to reduce school hours for high school students. After the spring festival, the kids were back in the classroom full time, from 6am till 10pm. I am guessing the government caved to parental pressure.

All they have given the students is free weekends, my school is even closed on weekends ( prior to this, it was open and teachers were on duty ).

As far as I know, the owners from New Oriental English managed to talk two young Californian guys into coming here. Some of my students saw them around town before the winter break. I have not seen or heard about them since then, so I suspect they left.

I have setup four groups of students, 8 per group. We do lessons on Saturday and Sunday, one hour per group, 50 RMB per student. It is normally 2 groups each day in the afternoon, but some weekends I have switched things around so I can go out of town.

Only having 8 students is so much nicer then 54, I can really help them and see them get better. They have given me ideas and taught me some tricks for my larger class's.

4 extra hours of work a week and nearly double my monthly pay.

[killian]

oh, the "all day" high school...what can be said?

"so much wasted time" perhaps? twenty minute breaks between classes, the three hour midday siesta/xiuxi...that is more than fourand a half hours per student wasted per day.

low pay causes ineffiencies.