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chezal · Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 146

Bradley you are naive if you only think the above is only happening at TBI. It happens at many schools across Indonesia including at national plus and local international schools. Hence why I think it's a good think that immigration are actually now trying to double check qualifications.

I could tell you many stories of people I know who have used photoshopped degrees to get ESL jobs include DOS jobs in Indonesia over the years.

bradleycooper · Joined: 12 Apr 2013 Posts: 310

princesss · Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 152 Location: japan/indo/aust

chezal · Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 146

princesss · Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 152 Location: japan/indo/aust

There have been a lot of rumors that TBI have been showing a number of teachers the door at Kuningan and other Jakarta branches over the last few weeks. With your TBI contacts Chezal I wonder if you could confirm whether this clean-up has been forced on them by DIKNAS?

chezal · Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 146

Most of the people I know that were at TBI have gone onto greener pastures in recent years.

I can tell you though that many schools including international schools are having a number of problems with getting visas for teachers even when they have everything that is being asked for. I know a number of teachers couldn't get straight extension on their KITAS this year and have had to cancel one and come in on a new one. As I said a number of these are well qualified teachers who tick all the boxes and have taught at international schools for years. Then there are others who don't tick all the boxes at the same school who were renewed no problem. So who knows what exactly is going on.

We also had to submit all our documents very early this year. For the first time ever we had to submit the original degree certificates, teaching certs etc with the accompanying transcripts. This is the first time I've ever had to do this and I've been teaching in Indonesia on and off from 2004. Before scanned copies were enough. So who knows if that is what is catching people out as some may not have had all the originals with them as they have never been asked for before. I know I didn't have a transcript from my first degree as they never used to give them in the UK so I had to apply to my university to get one sent. To be honest you would think if you had got postgraduate qualifications that trump the degree you wouldn't need it....but this is Indonesia.

Another first is that we had a health check this year. Though we didn't have any blood tests done. Was just blood pressure, listen to our heart and height and weight. That was it.

princesss · Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 152 Location: japan/indo/aust

This is where TBI has come unstuck. Wall Street saw the writing on the wall in 2010 and started only accepting people with English degrees. This was a huge inconvenience for them but they have come out in strong shape and have opened two new centres that are staffed with legal teachers. They have successfully adapted to the brave new world by boosting salaries by around 40 percent. This contrasts with the illegal practices at TBI, which continue to claim fresh victims.

TBI allowed itself to be talked into flying teachers in and out of Singapore every two months on Business Consultancy Visas, which are for business consultants obviously, not teachers. It was a mad, not mention illegal,scheme from the start, dreamt up by a man who had got into management with a photoshopped degree himself! Having placed its future in the hands of a fraud, it is hardly surprising TBI went down this shadowy path. They have ruined their name in the process and are now alienating more teachers with fresh lay offs. But you reap what you sow.

MadRiley · Joined: 11 Jun 2013 Posts: 18 Location: Saigon, Vietnam

bradleycooper · Joined: 12 Apr 2013 Posts: 310

Yes, there is a degree of uncertainty about who will get approval from the dreaded DIKNAS, but by 2013 a few general principles are clear. These are based on talking to many people in the industry and reading the posts on this board from the past couple of years:

1. You usually need a degree in English, TEFL or Linguistics to get a KITAS (work visa) as an English teacher now. This has been part of a general push to tighten up regulations for expat workers in Indonesia.

2. EF (the biggest chain in the market) is able to get KITASes for people without the right degrees. (Draw your own conclusions about how they manage it.) The down side is that they only pay about $800 a month, which is the same as they paid 9 or 10 years ago. Indonesian prices have been rising by about 7% a year since, making this wage steadily less attractive.

3. Wall Street Indonesia has stuck to the rules and emerged as the most "legal" and "play by the book" employer around. The down side is that they aren't interested in you without an English / Linguistics degree, which disqualifies most people.

4. TBI has tried but failed to get enough teachers with English degrees. Unlike EF, it cannot get KITASes for teachers without the right degree. It has been flouting immigration laws by employing teachers on VKUs instead, but VKUs are for business consultants not teachers. You work on one of these at your own risk (ie. of deportation). TBI is now refusing to renew the contracts of teachers without the right degree; many of the former illegal VKU teachers are being let go of.

There are many small language academies in Indonesia and many of these have employed expats on the sly. You are welcome to try your luck. But you probably won't get as many hours as you like, and you run the risk of deportation if you are caught. (It has happened to teachers from several schools in recent years). Unless you happen to have the right connections or the right degree, there are no really good options.

chezal · Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 146

princesss · Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 152 Location: japan/indo/aust

The worst TBI school of all is TBI Bekasi Sun City. This one tops everything. I have it on good authority that in 2012 they were so desparate for Native Speaker teachers they recruited a 19 year old kid who had come to Indonesia to marry a girl he met on Facebook! He didn't even have O levels from his recent school days in the UK. The other expat teacher challenged the school manager about standards and asked whether he would use the 19 year to teach TOEFL and the school manager, a notorious fellow, said that any Native Speaker should be able to teach Academic English, even a 19 year old! The kid left after a couple of weeks and they just ripped off the students for the Native Speaker component which the students had already paid for by using an Indonesian teacher instead. This is just one of many, many tales of woe from TBI Bekasi.

bradleycooper · Joined: 12 Apr 2013 Posts: 310

The TBI Director was fired at the end of 2012. The Head of Franchise was also replaced after multiple scandals at the end of 2012. It is possible that the new Indonesian managers will be better but TBI has not opened a new school in 2 years and TBI Semarang has gone bust, so things look grim. The arrival of the better funded and managed Wall Street Indonesia has knocked them for six.