Job Discussion Forums

[anthyp]

The question has recently arisen once again on this forum: Do you need a BA to teach in China?

Now, we all know that people are doing it here, that's not the issue. It's clear that nobody knows for sure, but in spite of how many people keep saying it's illegal to work in China without a BA (teachers, recruiters, schools), we keep getting asked for a "smoking gun" to prove this is so.

Unfortunately, SAFEA, the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, does not provide us with much to go with via their website:

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

since the English part of it is practically useless.

However, if you go here you can find a translation of their Guide to Employment of Foreign Experts (2002):

http://www.china-tesol.com/SAFEA_Guide/_1_SAFEA_2002/_1_safea_2002.html

And please note the following passages:

[tw]

[Don McChesney]

NO. In some poorer provinces they are so desperate to get foreign teachers that they take people without batchelors or even a TESOL or TEFL course. If you do the short TESOL at home course, and get their certificate, this is enough. How do I know? I personally know of 2 teachers who are employed legally here, (in Henan) who fall into one of these categories. In fact the TESOL (Aust) handbook promises a job with no Batchelor's degree in China, just a satisfactory High school certificate.
Me, I do happen to have (a) a degree in communications, (b) a recognised nursing qualification, and (c) a TESOL certificate and a lot of previous experience.

[tw]

[Volodiya]

Anthyp, I'd like to pose an answer in the context of what I would consider to be the unexceptional, completely legal situation.

If the non-degree holding, prospective employee's actual credentials are presented by the prospective employer to the State Administration for Foreign Expert Affairs; and, they, in the exercise of their discretion, issue their "Foreign Experts Affairs Invitation Confirmation" in response; then, the question, "Is a degree required?", is answered, "Not in every case".

This has happened, as reported from time to time by posters to this forum. I suspect it occurs most often when foreign teachers with degrees are in short supply. When this occurs, the foreign teacher is also properly issued a Foreign Expert Certificate, (FEC), the criteria for which is identical to that of the "Foreign Experts Affairs Invitation Confirmation", with the exception that the teacher must be in country, for the later; and, that a medical exam, in country, may be required before it, and the Residence Permit for Foreigners are issued to the foreign teacher.

There is nothing worrisome in this, and it certainly does not suggest anything untoward is going on. You would expect it to occur much less often in those places where there is an excess of applicants with degrees for each available position.

tw wrote:

[Roger]

Rules seem to be pretty straight-forward; it is their enforcement that is not always satisfactory. Or satisfactory to some and to the detriment of others.

Initially, only holders of a M.A. or similarly high degree could get the FEC. They also benefitted from slightly higher salaries.
But the requirement for FTs to have an 'M.A." isn't a very logical one; why don't they prescribe the type of M.A.? WHy is any M.A. holder entitled to higher benefits than holders of a Bachelor's? The answer might be that FTs do not enjoy the same rank as CHinese teachers; a Chinese teacher is a highly-qualified person with an education-related degree. That doesn't automatically make them IDEAL teachers, but you get the drift.

The fact that FTs get hired mostly to do useless edutainment called "oral English" means we do not need to be professional teachers, and those of us who are get lumped together with those who aren't. And since we are, as a collective, not regarded as being equal to our Chinese colleagues it doesn't really matter whether we are fully qualified, although academic backgrounds may enhance our marketability and the prestige of our employers.

Thus, the rules - all rules - get bent and bent ever more. THis hasn't helped the spread of the English language in China one bit - more FTs among the teaching crowds doesn't mean the quality of the English of Chinese has made any progress.

This year, it seems fewer summer camps have or are being held; adults are less often inclined to pay for their own English lessons. In not that distant a future, those cowboy outfits that hire foreign white faces to market themselves will be specialising in other subjects than English.

One day, perhaps (but I am none too optimistic) FTs will have to be competent and experienced teachers. English teachers will have to be able to teach grammar and literature.

[tw]