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weigookin74
Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 265
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 Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 12:41 am Post subject: How are public schools in China? |
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How are public schools in China? I have worked for public schools in Korea. I'm assuming the schools in China are not as well organized? It seems like a variety? Some with no office hours. Some with low pay. Some with more reasonable pay. I'm curious about work conditions, pay in different areas, working hours, how the apartment is, etc.
The schools there use recruiters and don't hire directly? Also, is there a lot of communting or are you placed near your school or schools? Paid vacations or unpaid? One year contracts or less than that? |
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water rat
Joined: 30 Aug 2014
Posts: 1098
Location: North Antarctica
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| Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 3:02 am Post subject: Re: How are public schools in China? |
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| weigookin74 wrote: |
How are public schools in China? I have worked for public schools in Korea. I'm assuming the schools in China are not as well organized? It seems like a variety? Some with no office hours. Some with low pay. Some with more reasonable pay. I'm curious about work conditions, pay in different areas, working hours, how the apartment is, etc.
The schools there use recruiters and don't hire directly? Also, is there a lot of communting or are you placed near your school or schools? Paid vacations or unpaid? One year contracts or less than that? |
Short answer: a gazillion. Longer answer: There are upward of a billion and a half people in China, far more people than the entire population of whatever country you are from (unless you are from India - are you from India?) are school-aged. Answering your primary question is very difficult, the rest of your questions are well nigh impossible. I was told by the boss lady in Beijing that there were five or six other teachers where they were sending me. I would work 25-30 class hours a week, must maintain office hours and we would have a teleconference monthly. Of course, I said all this was fine with me as I was the new guy. In the taxi from the airport in my Gansu town, the FAO said I was the only teacher. Until December I would have two classes. One is 40-minutes, and the other is a double 40-minute period. He thought it would be pointless for me to maintain office hours. "What for?" He asked in all sincerity? After December the double-time class (which has only three students) will end. Maybe I will get another group. Maybe.
Point is, you just never know. In November I picked up three more 40-minute classes, but I meet them only once a week, and at this point I am glad to have something to occupy my time just a little more.
My pay is relatively good. I make more than the principal of my high school I am told, and that fine gentleman is here nine or ten hours a day, five days a week. The school is so badly organized that I struggle to get photocopies made. I can't make them at my own expense because I sometimes need six to eight pages and would need more than 200 copies for the four larger classes of over 60 students each. There are no text books to speak of. I can request a multi-media room, but if someone else wants it, they have their 60 students stand outside. They're naturally noisy enough to drive me out as the teacher goes to complain that I reserved the room and they suddenly wanted to use it, and who the hell am I?
China is a vast and multi-faceted empire (yes, I said, 'empire') and no matter what anyone tells you, the only right answer to your question is choose a job that claims to have a good salary (maybe you'll luck out and it will be true), and the rest you just can't know until you get there and experience the place for a bit. The cost of living is very low here. I go to the supermarket and buy about 60 yuan of groceries for about half a week or more. That seems a lot until I convert it to the $10 it is the near equivalent to. In America if you spent $10 at the market, you could put your purchases in your shirt pocket. So you might get paid more in South Korea or Japan, for example, but Japan's living cost is sky high. You can eat and live fairly cheaply in Korea, but from a Chinese POV living cost are high there, and the salary may be better, but you will certainly work a lot harder. Many jobs in China approach mine in easiness, but as I said, you just never know.
Last edited by water rat on Thu Dec 11, 2014 8:05 am; edited 2 times in total |
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water rat
Joined: 30 Aug 2014
Posts: 1098
Location: North Antarctica
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| Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 5:41 am Post subject: |
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Oh. Sorry. I thought you had asked "how many?".  |
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jm21
Joined: 26 Feb 2008
Posts: 406
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| Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:00 am Post subject: |
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Diaorganization seems to be common in China. Today it is driving me nuts. One class I was told to do the final speeches for my public speaking class on week 16 and 18. Week 16 now. Had my class, finished about 2/3rds of the speeches. After the bell rings a panicked group of students come up asking when they will do their speech, as this is the last class. I stop by to talk with my assistant...whoops, no class on week 18 for them, sorry. Oh, the class you have on Friday can't possibly finish? Just have them do some activity and give them a participation grade. Oh, and they added 6 students on week 14 for no apparent reason besides to mix up things.
For the first half of the semester not everyone in my class had the textbook. Solution? Keep switching around the classes in the hopes of getting me some students with the right books. So half the semester half my class were new students. Impossible to give reading assignments or homework. One class only one student showed up because they were so confused about their schedule.
End rant. This is a private uni but this problem seems pretty common in China, though worse at this school. |
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water rat
Joined: 30 Aug 2014
Posts: 1098
Location: North Antarctica
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| Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 8:08 am Post subject: Re: How are public schools in China? |
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| weigookin74 wrote: |
How are public schools in China? I have worked for public schools in Korea. I'm assuming the schools in China are not as well organized? It seems like a variety? Some with no office hours. Some with low pay. Some with more reasonable pay. I'm curious about work conditions, pay in different areas, working hours, how the apartment is, etc.
The schools there use recruiters and don't hire directly? Also, is there a lot of communting or are you placed near your school or schools? Paid vacations or unpaid? One year contracts or less than that? |
I now know from your other posts that you are in Korea. Honestly, I'd advise you to stay there. China has its "charms" (no, really), but if the bottomline is cold, hard cash with you, then you ought to stay in Korea. I've been there, it's a bit rough, but it's mostly all right, I think. China is more interesting and more of an adventure, but you can't have your kimchi and eat it too, now can you? |
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JRJohn
Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 175
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| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 3:08 am Post subject: Hi |
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You might like to try public schools. Or universities, and depending on your qualifications, international schools. I work in a public school in Beijing. The recruiter handled lots of schools in Beijing. It looks fine, but there are issues. Last year in Korea, I was given my own apartment. This year, I had to pay rent, and pay at least 4 months up front. . Because there was an agency involved, I had to pay more. So I had to share. Oh, and with Chinese people. One of the people loves being really noisy at night and speaks no English.
I feel like I am working for a dodgy hagwon or something. P.M. me for advice. |
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Scrabble King
Joined: 25 Dec 2014
Posts: 91
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| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 9:04 am Post subject: |
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| Stable and safe is how I would define the big city public schools. The rural public schools are a bit to depressing for me. |
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SH_Panda
Joined: 31 May 2011
Posts: 455
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 2:07 am Post subject: Re: Hi |
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| JRJohn wrote: |
You might like to try public schools. Or universities, and depending on your qualifications, international schools. I work in a public school in Beijing. The recruiter handled lots of schools in Beijing. It looks fine, but there are issues. Last year in Korea, I was given my own apartment. This year, I had to pay rent, and pay at least 4 months up front. . Because there was an agency involved, I had to pay more. So I had to share. Oh, and with Chinese people. One of the people loves being really noisy at night and speaks no English.
I feel like I am working for a dodgy hagwon or something. P.M. me for advice. |
Yeah, so basically don't accept a job unless housing (not shared) is provided.
I made the move from Korea a few years ago and I've never regretted it. I teach 20 classes per week in a nice public school and there are NO office hours, which leaves a lot of free time for other stuff. I also have free private accommodation with bills paid and a very decent salary. No crappy deskwarming for me like EPIK teachers get.
You can really land on your feet in china if you do your homework before you arrive. |
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