Korean Job Discussion Forums

[littledigits1]

Aren't education boards supposed to be more professional? Apparently that's truly not the case here.

They turned down a teacher because she was ethnically Korean.

I went to the Incheon Edu Board with my Korean Canadian friend who has over 5 years of experience teaching and has great reference letters. They had offered her a position but told her that she needed to send in her middle school diploma!? When we asked why? The education supervisor Ms. MY Lee told her that there was a recent "scandal" where a Korean posing as a Korean American had actually falsified her documents.

But when my friend called to ask for more details about the position they kept ducking her calls and told her that they had found someone else. They never admitted it was cuz of her skin colour but when she sent a message asking them if that was the reason they refused to respond.

Now this racism happens all the time here but is apparently actionable since it is a government education board. Does anyone know where to complain?

[TheUrbanMyth]

[KYC]

It's hard to prove. FYI...they do hire Korean americans as well as Asian Americans. I'm Asian American and I'm with GEPIK.

The degree thing....I really dont understand it either. I wasn't born in the States but when I applied for jobs in Korea, a few recruiters asked me to supply my degrees from middle school and names of my elementary school! Weird...it's not like I would have remembered since I moved around a lot. I dont think it's certainly required since I was able to get a PS job without providing my middle school degree :rolleyes

[MarionG]

Middle school degree? Middle school diploma? Do these things even exist? I don't recall getting a middle school "degree" (What would you call it, a BA in JH?) nor a middle school dploma, and I for darn sure know mykids didn't...

[mountainous]

they kept ducking her calls and told her that they had found someone else.

and they probably did....move on and stay positive

[Doodly]

I don't know about Incheon. GEPIK states on their website that applicants who speak English as a second language need to have studied in their English country since at least junior high and lived there for more than 10 years. I think they will accept someone who has completed fewer years in the English school system as long as they've lived in the English-speaking country long enough. They may have given her job to someone else thinking that she was going to be questionning "Why?" instead of accepting it and providing the documents in time. That wasn't very fair of them but I don't think the policy is racist because it doesn't exist to exclude people who are ethnically Korean, only those of any race who do not have adequate experience with the English language and culture. Having said that, I don't think the policy works and maybe they'd be better off testing everyone's English instead of taking this route. It doesn't make a lot of sense since some people would be fluent in fewer years than that while others take much longer. I once met a Korean-American who met the Gepik requirements. I mistook her for someone's co-teacher because of some remarks she made and her accent. She'd lived in the US for over ten years but she was in her thirties so I don't think she could have gone to middle school there.

Since your friend is Canadian, she could contact the school board office(s) where she went to school and tell them that she needs a letter stating the years that she attended school there. They will still have her record. But, maybe now she doesn't want to work for boards with this policy anyway. If she didn't go to middle school in Canada and still wants to work in these boards then she should tell them that she wants to be considered anyway based on her other qualifications.

[littledigits1]

Urban Myth: If I was an employer I wouldn't offer a position and then take it away the next day, nor would I refuse to take calls or explain my actions. I think that's the point. The way they chose to conduct themselves is so beyond unprofessional that it requires an explanation without which makes them suspect. She had actually invited my friend to the office and then sent her to get her criminal background check that day. Looking foolish is not a worry.

Mountainous: We are. That's why we're doing something about this. Being negative is to ignore this kind of discrimination go. When you have an opportunity to do something, I do it.

KYC: Didn't say they didn't. GEPIK is a different entity than Incheon MOE. Though there are lots of problems with the program (illegal security deposits being one) not hiring ethnic Koreans is not one of them. In fact they would do well to screen ethnic Koreans better. I agree with Doodly. I have met a couple of "native" Korean teachers who could speak English barely reaching a 3rd grade level. It just makes it harder for the genuine native English speakers and it makes Koreans look incredibly deceptive and untrustworthy.

Screening isn't the issue. It's ignorance. It's the way they do it. Since they do not have the ability to distinguish between native English speakers from ESL speakers they make themselves look ridiculous. Get the uni degrees and credible references. Hey I would even give them my high school's or middle school's contact numbers but middle school diploma? If I can forge documents what would stop me from forging that too?

Hey, I have a wild idea. Have someone who can tell natives from the non-natives at the interviews. More jobs for us, less work for them and no risk of frauds.

BTW, she wasn't going to accept the position because of how incredibly stupid the whole process was and they happen to pay quite a bit less than other education boards. We did our research.

[Young FRANKenstein]