Job Discussion Forums

[Misstanbul]

I have been planning this for some time now. I just completed my last contracted day at Doga Koleji. I have never felt better in my entire life. I am now free to talk about them to my heart�s content. First I would like to say that working for them was not all bad. I worked with an amazing group of teachers, foreign and Turkish. I taught mostly wonderful children that will be terribly missed. I also learned some things about teaching, and a lot of things NOT to do while teaching. I went into the job there with no real warning about what I was getting myself into, and I do not want others to do the same. The purpose of this expose is not to bad mouth Doga Koleji, but to let prospective teachers know the things the recruiters/administration will not tell you up front. There is a confidentiality clause in the contract that began on the day my contract was signed and expired on July 15th, 2009. Here is what I have been waiting to say:

To be fair to Doga I will quote word for word the main clauses in the contract and then comment on what the reality is:
Salary-
�Doga will pay the Teacher a monthly salary of ____ dollars (US). This amount will be paid no later than the 15th day of each month.� This is a half-truth. After the first month, the economic crisis hit and all foreign teachers were told that they would now be paid at a set rate of 1.40 TL to the dollar. This has been below (at times far below) the actual exchange rate all year. We were paid by the 15th of every month though.
�Doga will pay the Teacher a travel bonus of _____ dollars (US) at the end of the contract.� I am happy to report that they did pay this, and in dollars too!!!
Housing-
�Doga will provide the Teacher with either (1) a rent-free, furnished room in a shared apartment (utilities to be paid by the Teacher) OR (2) a housing allowance of 300 YTL per month (to be paid together with the monthly salary)� This is true, but both are pitiful in their own ways. I did not live in the housing, but heard many stories about it. For those on Facebook, there is a group called �The Truth About Doga Koleji� which tells some lovely stories about the �lojman�. I received the 300YTL allowance, which is a very small amount for a private school to be offering (compared to what many other schools offer).
Medical Expenses-
�Doga will cover all medical expenses by the Teacher at assigned medical centers (except dental and eye care)� We were never told where the �assigned medical centers� were until we tried to claim our reimbursements. I had to fight tooth and nail to be reimbursed, and finally was in the end (months later). Thank goodness I had made copies of everything because I cannot count the number of times my receipts were �lost� or �taken from so-and-so�s desk�. There is also a school doctor who will barely give you a look, give you a prescription for antibiotics, and send you back to teach (when you are obviously too ill to do so).
Other Benefits-
�Doga will assist the Teacher in obtaining a residence permit.� True, but you will have to pester them non-stop to do so. They will transfer money into an account for you, print a statement, and then transfer it out. They might send someone with you to That Terrible Place in Aksaray and help you with it, or they might be too busy. Good luck! They do not actually know all the laws about visas too. This year, one of the teachers was told it was ok to stay on their tourist visa past the expiration. When the teacher said they needed to make a border run, the administration kept telling the teacher to wait and they would take care of it. That teacher ended up being unable to return for three months! Also a residence permit does NOT make it legal for you to work in Turkey, so do so at your own risk.
�Where possible, Doga will provide transportation to and from school, if this should not be possible, Doga will cover the Teacher�s additional expenses for his/her transport to and from school.� I lived on a service bus route and was lucky. Others were not, especially to the Kartal, Yakacik, and Sariyer campuses. I have NEVER heard of Doga offering to pay for travel expenses when transportation was not given. Again see the Facebook group for more on that topic too.

That is all I want to say about the contract and Doga. There are other things in the contract, but they are pretty standard and there are not issues with those things. I just want to add one little aside, the administration is awful and completely disorganized. They would actually be laughable if they did not try to make your life miserable at every opportunity. That would be a whole other entry though so I will stop there . Feel free to ask any questions you like, and I will try to respond in kind. Please post any updates here as well because things may change (and I truly hope they do).

[keitepai]

That was great! Always good to know the inside story
Are you staying in Istanbul? Another teaching job? If so hope you have found a better housing allowance at least.

[Misstanbul]

Thanks . I am definitely staying in Istanbul (for the long run), and I found a school that definitely pays a much higher housing allowance and salary (not to mention, gets work visas).
Have a great summer, keitepai!

[Marquess]

And Doğa Kolegı is owned by:

English Time or vice versa

[Listener]

Thanks for that post, i am pretty sure we know each other from a non-teaching forum, by the way

A note to everyone about work visas: I know a couple people who have been recently arrested in sting operations for working illegally. The Turkish government is cracking down on illegal workers (the majority of whom are not teachers actually) in order to create more positions for Turks to fill. I would not recommend to ANYONE to come here to work without a work visa in hand. And by the way, if you are told by a school that once they apply for your permit you are actually legal, this is a lie. You are not legally employed till the permit is actually in your hands.

[dagi]

Good post!
There's a rumour going round that schools were raided and teachers got deported instantly but so far I haven't heard anything than rumours. Would be interesting if someone knows more details.
(Rumour says 'Small Hands' and 'Doga Koleji' were raided).

[Misstanbul]

Marquess: I am not sure who owns who, but they are definitely linked (and also to Fetullah Gulen if you know who he is ).

Listener: Yes, we do know each other from outside the forums. Hope you are having a nice summer .

Dagi: Small Hands was most definitely raided. Doga was not. Every year Doga is visited by inspectors who are paid to look the other way. I have never heard of a teacher getting in trouble while working at Doga, but there is always time for a first.

[Marquess]

I seriously doubt that ET and DOğa who are owned by the same outfit have anything other than very casual and tenuous links with Fethullah Gulen who owns very reputable schools like the Fatih koleji chain.

[Misstanbul]

Perhaps not, but I have been told this by countless Turks here and in the US. It seems to be common knowledge to them, but I am not sure where they are getting this info from.
Thank you for your comments .

[Marquess]

Turks see conspiracy everywhere.

[Misstanbul]

Absolutely .

[TeachEnglish]

Thanks for the post about Doga Koleji. It is always good to get the inside scoop, but for the most part, many of these places are the same.. just a business trying to satisfy their customers(students' parents) and con people into working for them with their bogus contracts. Business as usual.

There seems to be a trend about native speakers. I don't know why, but many places are either firing all of us.. or just not hiring anymore of us. I would like to know if anyone has any info to add, explain, or any other insights into this trend. Peace

[tarte tatin]

Native speakers cost more.

[TeachEnglish]