Job Discussion Forums

[jujubean]

Hello to all who read this. It has been about a year since I last posted on this website. It would have been nice if it were something good to say. Unfortunately I was entering into the public domain a letter I wrote to the shiftless EF Swara Group owned by the infamous Pak Agus and Ibu Mistka, and the spineless face of the company, Pak Gusti [WARNING!!!! EF Swara Group/ EF Cengkareng (Indonesia)] (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=52567) . It got what I wanted as several people changed course on working with EF Swara Group and many of their business practices were exposed to a wider audience.

But it was not all good. I was a bit puzzled by some of the reaction. I am a very flawed person and guilty of many wrongs. I expected criticism, even the smarmy comments that people like Team Papua made. Still, some of the arguments surprised me. While I am a brooder, there seems to be an undercurrent against reporting bad situations in these language schools. �Just get over it� is the apparent MO. After seeing yet another posting about EF Swara Group�s scandalous behavior [EF Swara Group Scammers] (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=65471), I wanted to see what other people thought about voicing warnings about schools and individuals. Blacklisting in short. To begin with, I want to bring up three points on why we should to put this information in the public domain.

1. When institutions like EF Swara Group use words like �tropical� and �paradise� to promote themselves, it goes a long way in distorting the realties of how they function and what living in Indonesia will be like. It is natural to put your best foot forward when marketing, but schools like EF Swara Group make the move beyond �stretching� the truth. It is the precursor of how they will maximize exploiting you in this �relaxed� atmosphere. The neophyte in ESL is going to fall for it every time as Jakarta (somehow) still has a reputation as a tropical paradise.

2.It is important for people to talk about these experiences �5 years later�. We have short memories and EF Swara Group count on people forgetting. It allows them to continue their substandard way of operating. Expressing concerns in a clear way helps to warn people. Just the amount of hits on my first posting indicates there is a desire for this information. I do agree that newbies are not in the same situation as those with experience. There always has to be a bottom. The challenge is to decrease the gap between the bottom and the top. If we keep the pressure up, they will either go out of business or improve.

3.I also stand on what I said about the economic apartheid in Indonesia. No situation is black and white, and there are many factors contributing to the unbalanced distribution of wealth and ineffective infrastructure in Indonesia. With that said, The (general) arrogant aloofness of the non-indigenous community (for the lack of a better term), and the way they conduct business and interact with �other groups� cannot be overlooked when trying to understand companies like EF Swara Group and their business model. Calling it racist is not only a gross oversimplification, but the method used to color the argument so the truths that underlie the problems are not openly discussed as people tend to not want to be labeled as racists. This kills the conversation. Even when we hear from the non-indigenous community on these issues, it is not done with the frankness or sincerity that is needed (http://insideindonesia.org/content/view/236/29/).

I am looking forward to the arguments that are made on either side of this issue. I hope we can hear from EF Swara Group this time as we know they read these threads. And let�s not be too mean spirited or use the anonymity of the internet to hide behind. I hope we have a great debate.

Julian

[basiltherat]

[TEAM_PAPUA]

Boring!

It is what it is - everyone knows that.

[father Mackenzie]

Well I understand all the comments and concerns that have been made. However, I am halfway through my second year with EF Swara and I can honestly say I have not experienced any of the issues you and other forum members have raised. In fact quite the opposite.
I have had nothing but support and clearly communicated information during my time here.

I cant comment on what has gone on before me as I have no understanding of what happened to you but things are a lot different now. As a 2nd year teacher I can see the way things have changed in the last year and the amount of support new and existing teachers now receive is far more than before. Having worked in many large businesses before this one I know how it is to be treated badly and EF are not doing that to me or the teachers I live and work with here.

Things change and so do companies. Of course mistakes get made and Indonesia is not everyones cup of tea, not everyone likes tea.
For me this is tropical!!!!! And I enjoy it and everything about it.

I have lots of opportunity to travel, take weekends off, discuss and be involved as a teacher in the running of my school and feel appreciated by the CM and the other management I work with.

[Henry_Cowell]

"father"--

Why did you join these forums on October 9? Just wondering...

[wannaBguru]