Job Discussion Forums

[hibapkev]

I'm currently teaching in China. Next year I'd like to stay abroad but be a little closer to home. I'm looking into Nicaragua because I have a few connections there but they are not in education. I would essentially be asking a friend to work out a contract for me and one other person at a school/institute/company.

Has anyone heard anything about or taught in Nicaragua before?

I have not really seen any information about TEFL there.

Thanks

[nineisone]

Mostly volunteer or very low paying positions based on what I have seen on the net. Managua has some schools but most don't recruit online. Also, ugly third world capital.

MOD EDIT

Leon is a college town and the hidden gem(IMHO) of Nicaragua, but I didn't see any ESL schools when I went through.

You could try for the beach areas, just don't end up like Eric Volz. His arrest, conviction, and release have been covered in the U.S. media ad nauseum. Here's a quick link:

http://www.goodwillhinton.com/american_falsely_convicted_of_murder_in_nicaragua

Good luck

[john_n_carolina]

....here's a bunch of schools you could check out..

http://www.eslbase.com/schools/nicaragua

[naturegirl321]

[naturegirl321]

YOu could try international schools as well. Or the IB schools. www.ibo.org

[chuckalbert94]

Granda English College probably has the finest owner of all of Latin America. His staff or co-owners are the best and most professional that I have ever seen or experienced. The fine owner, Tomas Banks, is the most trustworthy, honest and moral human being in all of TEFL land. His word is good as GOLD. His coworkers are trustworthy, friendly and very altruistic. Each one of them will give you the shirt off their backs. This school is utter greatness.

I hope that all TEFL teachers will consider this fine institution. It has the greatest and most honorable of all owners in the planet.

I just hope that Granada English College is still is in operation.

Sincerely,

Chucky

[windowlicker]

This school will probably start putting hiring in April for positions starting in August: http://www.daystar-edu.org/eng/index.html

[windowlicker]

oops...the link I just posted is a school in Honduras. My bad!

[ElJuero]

A few things worthy of note:

The Granada College of English has definitely closed. The owner Scott Banks closed the school at the end of December.

I think it's important for people to realize what's going on in Nicaragua in general before considering employment here.

The political and economic climate in Nicaragua is very unstable at best. The unrest and lack of transparency during the Fall elections (and resulting violence) have left a toll on the country and its future. I say this as someone who really likes Nicaragua and the people here but the facts are the facts.

I know from very a very reliable source that enrollment in even the private school areas in Nicaragua is down as much as %30. Given the direction of the current government, this situation is unlikely to get better before it gets much worse.

If you have your heart set on trying a socialist-left of center type Central American country you may want to consider Honduras. This a very general recommendation based on some recent experience there. While Honduras is very poor it is still considerably better developed than Nicaragua at this point and the president there sounds much more politically savvy in dealing with the "yanquis" than Senor Ortega here in Nicaragua.

[john_n_carolina]

...yes, that's probably true. The Honduran gov't must have some kind of better relationship with USCIS because there are alot more Hondurans around where I live than Nicaraugans.

just a random sample that I took in my new area of Raleigh, N.C. this was the same in Maine where I previously was.

[ElJuero]

Couldn't agree more - Just general observations but Honduras is definitely a left-of-center, socialist country but they are not pissing off every donor country the way Managua is.

If it were just the USA I could even understand but Finland, Holland, France etc. have pulled donations or seriously reduced them after the international community's alarm over the way elections were handled. People have been beaten up, business's and customers threatened and so on. I can personally testify about the government's censorship of websites here during the elections.

Now, if you're just backpacking through or something, it's not really noticeable. Many people who are invested here put a light spin on it as they are unfortunately leveraged out in a country that's not too stable......

Hopefully things will balance out for the average person here as life is pretty difficult for many.

[Chirimolla]

My brother's just come back from 3 months working in a Nicaraguan hospital, so I've gathered a bit about the place from him.

Firstly, avoid Managua like the plague. It's a hole. And there's more crime there than other cities. Leon and Granada are nice, as is the Carribean coast (unsurprisingly).

Secondly, it might be worth investigating the political situation. I've heard Ortega is getting a tad more authoritarian these days, and there's always going to be questions about stability in a poor country during a world economic downturn.

Apart from that, my brother really enjoyed the place. Great scenery, lots of fun to be had climbing active volcanoes, that kind of thing.

Oh, and if you do go, don't eat the salads. Ever.

[ElJuero]

Chirimolla,

I think your points are well taken though I did find eating food no problem. Everyone ends up with parasites eventually but 3-5 bucks buys a pill to nuke the bugs. Some people just take the pills every 3-4 months as a routine.


The political economic situation in Nicaragua is fairly serious. Many otherwise neutral aid organizations have withdrawn funds. I believe the municipality of Madrid was the most recent contributor to stop sending money. These organizations have withdrawn the money because of the electoral fraud.

Political opposition people have been roughed up, buses set on fire and at least one internet site I used to read regularly (based in Nicaragua) was blocked by the government.

Granada and Leon are probably the best cities to go to in Nicaragua as you say. Managua is as fugly a city as you can see and it is dangerous.