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age limit china question

 
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goliaththedog



Joined: 30 May 2011
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 12:21 pm    Post subject: age limit china question Reply with quote

What is the age limit to teach in China? I see alot of jobs for 55 and younger only, saying 55 is the limit. Others say 60 is the limit.

If 55 is the limit, does that mean if you start the teaching year at age 54 and you turn 55 during the middle of the teaching year, you have to leave on your birthday and that's that? Or can you finish the year out?

thanks
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lionheartuk



Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Posts: 173
Location: Guangdong

PostPosted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 3:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The limit is 60 for men. I will stop teaching after the next school year even though I have gone past 60 and have been at this school for 11 years. There is another teacher at a school I know who is 62 and still going strong. Depends on the provinces F.E.B and the Police as to the age limit
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voyagerksa



Joined: 29 Apr 2015
Posts: 140

PostPosted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 12:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The age limit for all practical purposes is 59, because they consider if you are going to turn 60 before a contract expires even if you are 59 at the beginning of the contract. If you get a job at a university teaching subjects you can presumably get a visa extended past age 60, but you have to appear academically qualified like maybe a Master or PhD. You can also find districts in China where the authorities can be bribed if a school wants you. However can you get a visa from an embassy without already having one once you turn 60? I don't know.
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TexasHighway



Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Posts: 779

PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 2019 4:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just left China having taught until I was 70. It appears they are now enforcing the 60 age limit across China.
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AbeCross



Joined: 21 Jun 2012
Posts: 191

PostPosted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 5:04 pm    Post subject: 60 maximum Reply with quote

Although 60 seems to be the legal maximum, I applied at a university a few months ago through a recruiter. After a couple of days, the recruiter informed me that the university was not going to interview me because I was over 50, but that she was "working on it." A few weeks later, the uni seemingly changed its mind, but by then—because of their obvious age discrimination—I was no longer interested.
Confucius taught in his late sixties. What is wrong with these people?


Last edited by AbeCross on Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:50 pm; edited 1 time in total
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jaybet3



Joined: 15 Dec 2010
Posts: 140
Location: Indonesia

PostPosted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 11:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The uni possibly changed it's mind once they realize they couldn't get other applicants.

A few years ago, I was offered a job until they looked at my medical form and saw that I was overweight. They told me I could NEVER work at their school and some other insulting language.

So, I told them I had another offer and I wouldn't work at their school. About 30 minutes later another email arrived and said the school changed their mind and they would now hire me.

What a joke. Told them to "f"-off and never looked back.

Thus is the mindset of some in that country.
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Greg 09



Joined: 30 Jan 2009
Posts: 169

PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 5:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had to leave one school after 7 years because I had just turned 60. I found a job in another province who said I could stay as long as my medical exam was good. I hated that city and found yet another job in another province who are telling me I can stay until I'm 65.

Seems like smaller cities in less developed provinces have some discretion. In the big cities it's impossible, which is fine since I don't want a big city. If you really want China just post your CV/Resume on the job sites and wait for the flood of emails to come in. Good luck!
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Simon in Suzhou



Joined: 09 Aug 2011
Posts: 404
Location: GZ

PostPosted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 6:26 am    Post subject: Re: 60 maximum Reply with quote

AbeCross wrote:
Although 60 seems to be the legal maximum, I applied at a university a few months ago through a recruiter. After a couple of days, the recruiter informed me that the university was not going to interview me because I was over 50, but that she was "working on it." A few weeks later, the uni seemingly changed its mind, but by then—because of their obvious age discrimination—I was no longer interested.
Confucius taught in into his late sixties. What is wrong with these people?


Pretty much the mandatory retirement age for CHINESE men in China is 60, and 50 for women (although that may have been raised to 55, not sure). It's not picking on foreigners, it's the culture here. Companies and schools will not be legally responsible for health/insurance/liability issues for people over these ages. At the high school I'm at I share an office with the head of HR. I watched a tearful janitor forced out at 60 last year after begging for his job. Many older Chinese workers are just as frustrated as y'all. With a billion and a half people, they gotta keep opening up jobs for the next generation. I suspect the feeling is if they make exceptions for foreigners, it would breed some pretty deep resentment among the locals who don't get that same treatment. It sucks, but it's understandable from a bigger perspective.
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Greg 09



Joined: 30 Jan 2009
Posts: 169

PostPosted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 3:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes the local laws affecting Chinese people are not the best for those still able and want to work but reach the mandatory retirement age. But...

1. We're not Chinese, and they naturally want native speakers to teach their kids.

2. In the teaching profession, in China, there are very few, if any, who don't welcome retirement at 55-60 or whatever. They can retire and make much more money running a private training school. I've known teachers who just quit their job in their 40s and opened a school and quite suddenly bought BMWs and started their international travel hobby.

3. China has begun a crackdown on foreigners to weed out the undesirables, and you can be sure that most of these are young, marginally qualified backpackers who like to smoke a joint and play games or movies in class. I don't see that crackdown as a bad thing, but at the same time their new policies are making it harder for experienced teachers who have a little age on them to qualify. They can't have their cake and eat it too.

4. The assumed "prime years" for professionals are age 30-50. Good luck recruiting these people in China. They will work the hard hours and make the big bucks in the West. The career projection for a young, well educated professional does not include teaching English in China.

5. China has chosen to eliminate the margins, the irresponsible youth and the experienced but "too old" teachers. In the former it's good policy, in the latter they're cutting off their most valuable source of good education. Of course I say this knowing that there are both good and bad teachers all along the age spectrum.

6. Chinese government policies toward Western workers, at every level, is politically motivated. They will get from us what they can, when they need it, and after our usefulness is perceived to be gone then we also will be gone. You can argue this point, but we're seeing it happen as we speak.

I've loved my 9+ years here and hope to have more, but 'the times, they are a' changing' . Thank you Bob Dylan for a timeless song.
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Kalkstein



Joined: 25 Aug 2016
Posts: 80

PostPosted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 11:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Greg 09 wrote:
Yes the local laws affecting Chinese people are not the best for those still able and want to work but reach the mandatory retirement age. But...


1) It doesn't matter though because the laws still affect native speakers and it's the government that make the laws not the people. It's gotten much harder to get hired past this age if you are a foreigner. Unless you are a specialist or very important person. Even in the small provinces/cities the laws are pretty strict these days.

2) I'm not sure what this has to do with anything, most teachers do not retire then open up private schools, especially not foreigners. Teaching is not a particularly well paid job compared to other professionals and a BMW is not expensive anymore. They could have just saved up for one over the course of years or have taken a loan.

Most teachers do not want to retire and most do not have the skills to start their own business which is not as easy as you make it seem. If it was then why aren't you doing it?

4) China has no problem hiring these people they are everywhere, including myself. This is one of the best places for ESL salaries in the world. The terrible jobs have a hard time finding candidates but a decent paying job in Shanghai will have no trouble recruiting people.

The only cases I've seen where people are working here after retirement are Chinese people with very high positions. I'm in a small city and if you are over 60 here you won't get a work permit.
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