Job Discussion Forums

Itsme · Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Posts: 624 Location: Houston, TX

I recently substituted for a class. I walked into the school and the place was the nicest I have seen. The floors were polished marble. The bathrooms had automatic flushing and there were water-fountains everywhere. The place looked like a minuature resort!

I agreed to teach 3 40 min classes for 300 RMB.

I taught the class by myself. There was no teaching assistant and I literally exhausted myself....

Which is why 100 RMB per 40 min is too low. The funny/not so funny part of the story is that they would like me to teach more often but they want to offer me 80 RMB per class. The only reason I got 300 was because I asked for a higher price.

Now if the students were dodging flowing sewage to get to class I would feel a little silly demanding 140 per 40 min period (what I get at another school;) however, as I mentioned already in this post, the place was shining like a newly built airport in the US.

Go ahead and find another teacher to teach. See if they can do as good a job as I. If so, then happy birthday to you. If not, then you know my rate and you know my number.

Amen

laska · Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 293

If you have experience and care about teaching, I think RMB 200 per contact hour would be a reasonable bottom line in Shanghai.

I also think doing volunteer work is great. Some of my most rewarding teaching experiences have been working with poor students.

boxcarwilly · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Posts: 85

I live in a smaller city in between Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Net of taxes and rent, my monthly take home is 15,000 RMB (I'm a specialist). I teach around 20 hours a week but am required to be on the job 40 hours a week. I value every hour the same. If I divide 180,000 RMB (after tax and rent for 12 months) by 2080 (FTE 40 hours times 52 weeks) I come up with a little more than 85 RMB per hour for 40 hours a week, every week, whether I am teaching, planning, bs'ing, surfing or sunning myself on the beach in Vietnam.