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bluetortilla
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 815
Location: Henan
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 Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 3:03 am Post subject: New Visa Requirement- Degree in English or Education |
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Indonesia is now requiring a degree in English or Education for a visa?
What percent of English teachers out actually possess such a degree? If they do it's probably an MA in TESOL.
Where will these schools find enough teachers? |
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Tudor
Joined: 21 Aug 2009
Posts: 339
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 3:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Where will these schools find enough teachers? |
With difficulty. Some schools are employing teachers without the correct documentation. Each to their own and all that, but it's not a risk I'd take.
Also, there's much more reliance on local Indonesian English teachers. Whereas six months ago schools may have been able to offer "native speaker only" courses, now most courses will be taught by a mixture of native and non-native speakers.
Of course, this regulation doesn't seem to be affecting every school, but the ones that it is affecting are struggling. The fact that some of them treat their existing teachers shoddily and are thus unable to retain them doesn't help matters, but that's a different subject altogether. |
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bluetortilla
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 815
Location: Henan
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| Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 1:34 am Post subject: |
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Is this a 'law' or a 'regulation?' Sorry I'm weak on the nomenclature but in other words could the requirement change overnight?
Will this apply to MA's in TEFL with no undergrad degree in English?
And if worse comes to worse how hard can it be to get enough distance credits to add an English related degree to your existing one? I have a degree in the social sciences and 3 credits of TESL already. so- a semester maybe?
Call me naive, but I always thought of Indonesia as 'fuzzy' in matter such as these... |
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Tudor
Joined: 21 Aug 2009
Posts: 339
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| Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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Ok BT, I'm no expert but this is what I've gathered (kind of) goes on. An application for a work permit (KITAS) for a teacher has to be approved by the Ministry of Education - they've got an official name but I can't think what it is. Once it's approved it goes to the Ministry of Manpower who also have to approve it. What is happening now is that the Ministry of Education are rejecting a lot of applications from the informal sector (i.e. language schools) as teachers are supposed to have a degree in English or Education. So, as regards the semantics as to whether it's a law or a regulation I don't think it matters a jot, but, either way, I doubt it's going to disapear overnight. In fact, I believe it's been in place quite a while but it's only recently they've started to apply it.
If by "fuzzy" you mean a rather lax and haphazard application of laws or regulations then yes you'd be right. And it's for that reason that no-one can categorically say to you or any other potential teacher "Yes an MA in TESOL will get you a KITAS" or "No it won't, you need a BA in this, that or the other". Hell, even people with English degrees are finding it's not plain sailing getting a KITAS. Add to that the fact that some schools seem to be getting round the 'regulation' and it seems only to be certain cities that are encountering problems (Jkt and Bandung namely) it's impossible to really know what's going on.
The one conclusion I've seemed to reach is that it's only private language schools (e.g. EF, TBI, Wall Street etc) who are having these problems. It seems to be business as usual for International and National Plus schools. If you're serious about coming out here, you would be better spending your time contacting schools and asking them what their situation is regarding this as it's almost certain they will all be experiencing different circumstances and then you'll get accurate info straight from the horse's mouth. I'm only repeating what I've heard from various people and therefore can't vouch for the reliability of my information although it's probably reasonably accurate. What is true though is that nothing's ever certain in Indonesia! |
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bluetortilla
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 815
Location: Henan
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| Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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Well that certainly clears things up! 
Being Indonesia, I thought as much. Thanks for all your effort to get that info to us as well as the advice. I'm sure we'll do what we have to do. |
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