Job Discussion Forums

[shlinder]

We all know the EDB is anal! My wife, a CityU professor, knows numerous post-colonialism experts, and they insist that the EDB has to change in the next couple years in the context of the ongoing de-coupling, and redefinition of self in the HK government! I find this hard to believe, what with the nature of HK government, the enormous task of switching to 3-3-4 right now, etc.

What do people think? Do you predict any future changes at the EDB? How about in how they deal with NET teachers? In their requirements? Has anyone heard any rumors? Is anyone "in the know"?

[Marcoregano]

EdB will change in the course of time - in the same way that glaciers do. SLOWLY. Change is a word most civil servants in HK don't like - it often means 'trouble'. When things change they often also go wrong. When things go wrong someone has to be blamed. People say: Who is to blame? Then the finger pointing starts. Best to keep things the same. No change, no blame.

As regards how they deal with NET teachers - what sort of changes are you thinking about? They certainly haven't changed anything much since my wife became a NET in '99. The special allowance or whatever it's called went from 13K down to 10K then back up to 13K. I have a suspicion they may tighten up on qualifications (e.g. a PGCE or equivalent will become essential) and this will be relatively easy to enforce as they will probably enjoy more applicants than usual (because of the crash).

[shlinder]

I wasn't sure what type of changes these post-colonial experts were talking about, just vague, "they are going to change soon" stuff. But as you stated, I'm not sure anything will change. Especially since I'm new to the whole NET teaching thing period!

Also, when I took the PGDE written entrance exam there were over 200 people in the auditorium. They lady administering the test said everyone in the room were applicants for the secondary English part-time program. They accept 25 for secondary, 25 for primary! Wow! That means only 25% of applicants were accepted! I was luckily one of these!

And they are already stressing PGDE and TEFL! They're strict on that even now!

[Serious_Fun]

[shlinder]

Sheesh!

1. I made typos because I was running to a class and writing from the developers version of Chrome; I had a difficult time seeing text in the response box.

2. I have 5.3571 months experience as a full-time secondary NET. But I have many years of experience teaching English in other capacities, as well as working with youth in general.

3. I'm American.

4. My calculation of 25% included both secondary and primary slots ((25+25)/200=25%). I remembered that we had to specify secondary or primary on the exam form. Yes, that means that one sentence did not jive with the other.. Chrome... Anyway, a 25% acceptance rate is still amazing!

Did I make any errors just now?



Now, back to the topic...

[Marcoregano]

Shlinder, SF often uses a style that might be described as acerbic - and not necessarily helpful in terms of the OP - don't be dismayed! Nonetheless, SF is one of the few actual NETs inhabiting the forum, so his opinion - when he expresses one - can offer insight.

Back to the OP, it'd be helpful to get a handle on what these so-called experts are talking about...

[shlinder]

Thanks for the insight into SF! I was put off, but I'll let it go based on your comments!