Job Discussion Forums

Yiren · Joined: 10 May 2007 Posts: 14

At our Jiamgsu university we have been informed that all foreign experts (teachers) in China will be required to register for and fill in the on-line Evaluation System for Foreign Experts (see SAFEA website under "Services").

This is an extensive questionnaire which includes personal questions, resume, an online interview, an 800 word essay to be written in 10 minutes, a general knowledge test, and a psychological test with results to be posted on-line for Chinese government bodies and future employees to access. Our university demands we register and do the "evaluation" and assures us that though our personal information will be online, our privacy will be protected because "only" government and employers wil be able to access it (never heard of hackers?).

If this is true then every one of us will have our psychological profile and other details on the web before the end of the year or we will be unable to obtain a work permit (foreign experts certificate) and continue working in China.

Has anyone encountered this demand from their university? It seems to be a joint enterprise involving SAFEA and Chinajobs.com and the rationale is a licensing law which was passed 5 years ago.

By the way some have tried out the tests under bogus names and found that they are in Chinglish and that both the test and the results are incomprehensible. You can see one of our teacher's blogs for a description of his experience in trying to do the test. at themaninchina.com

So is this legit? Is it local Jiangsu? All of us are balking to say the least.

Yiren

Yiren · Joined: 10 May 2007 Posts: 14

For anyone wanting to further voice their opinion on this matter try the following:

The Chinese government monitors www.themaninchina.com on a regular basis. So if you want to get a message across to the powers that be, click on the blog link for this site and let them know your opinion of this new mandatory test. You can sign in to this blog with a suitably sarcastic user name and bogus email address, so there's no downside for you.

Yiren

peruisay · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 35 Location: Deepest China

Yiren · Joined: 10 May 2007 Posts: 14

No, it isnt self promotion.

This is not my blog. It belongs to one of the other teachers who has been asked to do the evaluation.

Yiren

Hansen · Joined: 13 Oct 2008 Posts: 737 Location: central China

Just say NO. Any assurance of privacy or confidentiality is absolute bunk. The results will be used to hurt teachers, not help them.

I'm sure you've heard the story of the snake and the turtle. Valuable lesson for those willing to learn it.

Jayray · Joined: 28 Feb 2009 Posts: 373 Location: Back East

The last time that I checked on the site, it wasn't operational, but apparently it's working. Worse, there's a link to a test on the SAFEA web page:

Evaluation System for Foreign Experts

http://www.safea.gov.cn/english/

If you're going to sign in to check it out, I recommend that you use a proxy to gain entry or enter the site from a location other than the one where you expect to take the test (if you think you might be required to do so). Undoubtedly, your IP address and your email and name will be used to verify your identity.

I haven't signed in yet. I'll check it out. I'll see if I can pass on some info.

brsmith15 · Joined: 12 May 2003 Posts: 1142 Location: New Hampshire USA

How are the Chinese ever going to evaluate a psy profile when they have no clue what the subject entails?

El Chupacabra · Joined: 22 Jul 2009 Posts: 378 Location: Kwangchow

I took this test late last night and it's bollocks. The essay, BTW, is only 200 words, but the prompt is so weak it is impossible to answer. Test designers: you cannot make an argument with the modal verb "may".

The psych test is full of questions that can't be answered, and the knowledge test is completely dada. Some of them are complicated math questions which cannot possibly be solved without a calculator, and the pedagogy questions refer to theories over 100 years old.

Frankly, this test so grated me that I finally gave them a piece of my mind in the essay question. This is a poorly designed assessment that measures absolutely nothing. If the powers-that-be want to increase the quality of tertiary instruction, they should simply recognize apostilled transcripts, preferably at masters or doctorate levels. Be done with bachelors and certificate holders, and hold faculty to high standards of performance. Bandaging a sloppy system with a sloppy evaluation is not going to help anybody.

This Chinglish test is nonsense concocted by bureacratic weasels. Why would math, knowledge of Chinese foods, and written English be important to teachers of oral English?

If this is what Chinese higher education has spiralled down too, I'm moving on.

Sef · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 74 Location: UK

Am a teensy bit drunk and thought I'd have a look at this test. I have to agree with El Chupacabra - this test is beyond stupid.
Questions like
Do your family come together?
Who is the current president of the USA? (And Barack Obama isn't one of the choices.)
What is your strength in communication? (With one possible answer being 'my writing capability is a little bit stronger than my writing.')
So I used the writing section to ask the government to unblock facebook.

The Great Wall of Whiner · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 4946 Location: Blabbing

Funny how foreigners are "mandated" to fill this out, yet are banned from Net Bars.

I'll have a look at it.

The Great Wall of Whiner · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 4946 Location: Blabbing

Sonnibarger · Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 320 Location: Wuhan

1. The requirements:
　　The economic and technical foreign experts and the cultural and educational foreign experts who have got the working permit in China and entered in to Hunan with working visas can apply for the Foreign Experts Certificates.
　　
2. The necessary materials:
　　(1)The original form of �The application of the foreign experts� working in China� and the stubs of the working permit;
　　(2)The standard original employment contracts provided by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and signed by cultural and educational experts and employers. (For check)
　　(3)The foreign experts� passports and the valid copies of Z visa.
　　
　　(4)Two bareheaded color photos of applicants. (Two inches)
　　3. The procedures:
　　(1) Employers get into �the management system of foreign experts work permit in China� from the links of the web page of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs -- http://hunan.caiep.org and submit the applications.
　　(2) After the approval of the applications, the employers need to submit the paper materials to the Provincial Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs
　　(3) When the materials submitted by employers are complete and in accordance with relevant regulations, the application would be accepted.
　　4. There is not any fee for applying for the Foreign Experts Certificates.
　　5. Duration: 2 working days after the submission of the satisfactory materials.

FEC requirements... nothing about the test

tommchone · Joined: 27 Oct 2009 Posts: 108

I just spoke to the FAO here and he told me that now the evaluation is not required; that is, we DON'T have to take it. I grilled him so strongly that he's going to doublecheck. He was the one that first told me I HAD to take it. I've completed everything except the online interview. Has anyone out there heard this?

Yiren · Joined: 10 May 2007 Posts: 14

Great news! Some here have succumbed and are sharing the answers for the tests. However most of us are balking and not doing it. We have been told that we have a Nov. 20th deadline. So we'll see what happens in a couple of weeks.

tommchone · Joined: 27 Oct 2009 Posts: 108

What about the Online Interview? What's that like?