Job Discussion Forums

[Canuck 41]

GEVU in April, 2006, blacklisted the Huamei Education Investment Group in Guanzhou. The affiliates of the the Huamei group are Guangzhou Huamei International School, Guangzhou Training School for Study Abroad, Guangzhou Huamei Bond International College, and especially the Pre-Masters Program Center (PMP) of Yiyuan College of Guangzhou, Sun Yat Sen University. The PMP is affiliated with the Wales International Consortium, a group of Welsh universities on the prowl for full-fee-paying foreign students.

According to the executive director of GEVU, the reason for putting this organization on the blacklist was because of their abysmal treatment of me, the first and only foreign teacher at this new enterprise, and numerous contract violations. GEVU did very little for me: they were only able to negotiate the bottom of the pay scale, did not even know the true name of the prospective organization or did not bother to tell me, and generally provided no support as I dealt with a xenophobic manager. and incompetent staff.

As for GEVU, the best thing they ever did for me was put this disreputable organization, the Huamei group and Sun Yat Sen University on a blacklist.

[tofuman]

Good to know that such a blacklist exists and that you were supported in the way that you were. The unfortunate thing is that their is usually some pathetic human being looking for meaning in life that will still work at the school, flattering himself that it is the humanitarian thing to do. He himself may even wring his hands about the place, even though he validated their lousy treatment of you by working for them.

Historically known as collaborators, these miscreants harm those who went before and those who come after as they grasp for meaning in their own empty lives.

[Roger]

Who or what is 'GEVU"?
Should we trust them?

[HunanForeignGuy]

[Canuck 41]

GEVU stands for Global Education Volunteers Union, based in the UK.

I have 15 years teaching experience in five countries and this is my second trip to China, so I`m familiar with all the issues. This school, the Pre Masters Program Center, a division of the Huamei Group, uses the name of Sun Yat Sen University and according to one business card I have, is part of the Yiyuan College, Sun Yat Sen University.

Now, let`s define zenophobe. That would be the manager of a new enterprise keeping his first and only foreign teacher in an empty room on the edge of town for ten days after arrival until the morning the students arrived for class. I taught my first classes with my bags still packed in the office and not knowing where I would be sleeping that night. The flat was absolutely filthy. Not once in the two months I worked my best there, did he ever have lunch with me, his most valuable employee. He cared nothing for me as a teacher or a person, or building a team. In his pique, he wrongfully dismissed me without a replacement teacher standing by, leaving the student-customers in the lurch. He breached eight articles of the contract. I had to ask him three times for his business card and it took five weeks to get. Apparently, he did not want me to have his email address, or phone number. He even told me in a very firm manner that a map of the campus was not available, although he himself lived on campus and the designated FAO, a completely incompetent woman, handed me a copy of the map I had twice before asked her for. His boss told the Canadian consul here in Guangzhou that he wanted to meet me face to face, but did not respond to four requests for a meeting. Now the Canadian consul has egg on her face. the most junior employee of the staff screamed at me and poked his finger in my face after entering unannounced into my bedroom that I was to respect the Chinese, say thank you, and be grateful for all they were doing for me. All the while, the xenophobe stood in the hallway, rejecting my invitation to enter the flat. The part that was hardest to get around was the fact that they could not see that cooperation and making the working relationship a success was in the self-interest of himself, the staff of 7( for only 1 teacher and 4 students). Having a profitable enterprise was not as important as humiliating me. Xenophobia is not a textbook phenomena only; it exists in many places in China and elsewhere. A xenophobe, therefore, would be someone so blinded by hatred of a visitor to his or her country, that he will even damage himself. ie: cut off his own nose to spite his face. Perhaps some native English teachers have had a different experience, but Sun Yat Sen University and the Huamei Group care not.

And you are right. It is all very strange, but remember, China is a foreign country.

And it is GEVU itself that should be on a blacklist.

[HunanForeignGuy]

[quote="George Evashuk"]GEVU stands for Global Education Volunteers Union, based in the UK.

I have 15 years teaching experience in five countries and this is my second trip to China, so I`m familiar with all the issues.

First, with fifteen years teaching experience, why would anyone use Global Education Volunteers Union of Brighton, England to get a job in China? That sounds totally newbie to me. I understand that this may be your second trip to China, but how long was the first, and if you were here before, did you not come across a better contact than GEVU? Did you do a search for them on the 'Net or on the Board? You would have come across all kinds of warnings.

And are you university degreed with 15 year solid teaching?

This school, the Pre Masters Program Center, a division of the Huamei Group, uses the name of Sun Yat Sen University and according to one business card I have, is part of the Yiyuan College, Sun Yat Sen University.

Did you google or research the Huamei Group before you took the job? Did you to speak previous teachers in the field who had worked there? Did you ask for pictures of the apartment? Did you visit the school before you were employed just to doublecheck? Were you lured there by an excessively disporportionate salary? Did you ever contact Sun Yat Sen University to make sure that all of this information was verifiable and exstant?

Now, let`s define zenophobe. That would be the manager of a new enterprise keeping his first and only foreign teacher in an empty room on the edge of town for ten days after arrival until the morning the students arrived for class. I taught my first classes with my bags still packed in the office and not knowing where I would be sleeping that night. The flat was absolutely filthy.

Many of if not all of the oldies here have been confronted with filthy flats which we have cleaned, or had cleaned, painted, etc., etc. Again, I ask -- did you ask for a picture of the apartment before you arrived? As for teaching classes with bags still packed, that is also known to have occured before here.

Not once in the two months I worked my best there, did he ever havee lunch with me, his most valuable employee. He cared nothing for me as a teacher or a person, or building a team. In his pique, he wrongfully dismissed me without a replacement teacher standing by, leaving the student-customers in the lurch. He breached eight articles of the contract. I had to ask him three times for his business card and it took five weeks to get. Apparently, he did not want me to have his email address, or phone number.

First, there is a very North American sense of entitlement here which I find misplaced..."his most valuable employee"...in your opinion, perhaps, but not in his. As for no lunch or dinner in two months, I have been in this University for one year and that has yet to happen either. And frankly I don't care. You do the gig, do the contract and move on in those cases. But everyone appears to be incompetent in your posting -- the man, the FAO, the Canadian Consul, Sun Yat Sen University, etc., etc. All of this shows total unresearched newbie in China to me and is a little troubling.

And why was your contract terminated after two months? Surely there is the school's side of the story, also.

Look at my postings under Violence in China. Our university just DEPORTED two New Zealand crazies and according to them -- there was absolutely NO reason. I have been on both sides of the coin here in China and I have seen both sides of the coin.

[Roger]

HunanFOreignGuy:
Maybe you are a victim of blustering and bragging by the parties that want the public to believe in their superiority! The Chinese ivy league universities never measure up to any western universities, haven't you noticed yet?
The Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou may have a certain "reputation", but I assure you they are a far cry from what you would your own kid to enrol at!

If you want to see some documentary proof of how far their educational values go, I might be able to forward to you some highly revealing PM that shows all is not colourful at Dr. Sun Yat-sen.
Maybe the old geezer is growing gray hair in his grave over what they are doing with his name!

[NateM]

I'm all for teachers letting people know how they were treated at a school, but GEVU seems like a strange bunch for anyone to align themselves with for that purpose. This is an organization that, at least until recently, regularly hoodwinked people into coming to China to work for free. I wouldn't trust them any further than I could throw them.

[clark.w.griswald]

[tofuman]

"First, there is a very North American sense of entitlement here which I find misplaced..."his most valuable employee"...in your opinion, perhaps, but not in his. "

Great insight HFG. ATTENTION all FTs, read this. It absolutely explains why some FTs here are abused, neglected, and misunderstood. FTs are unimportant as far as the personal feelings of some Chinese, perhaps the one who is in contact with you.

[Joe C.]

There must obviously be two sides to every story and we don't have the full picture from either side here.

That said, Huamei is known in Guangzhou as the school for rich retards as are most private schools in the province. I do know some of the Chinese staff at Huamei International High School and they far from impress me. It say that OP might be on track -- might be.

The school that he mentions as affiliated with Zhongshan University is not part of the formal university structure rather a side venture with a private enterprise. I know people who work in similar affiliated ventures of ZSU and I know people who work directly in ZSU and there is often a different experience had between the two groups. So, out of hand, I wouldn't outright dismiss OP's claims.

[Henry_Cowell]

[tofuman]

"pathetic human being"

The fish you catch with different kinds of net!

[Henry_Cowell]