Korean Job Discussion Forums

[baedaebok]

Why are international schools in Korea so expensive? The salaries of the teachers can't be that high. Are the owners making a killing?

As a point of comparison, my friend who is a teacher at an international school in Saudi Arabia earns about USD50,000/month. That's a lot more than the international school teachers do here. Yet, the tutition in that same Saudi Arabia school is about USD8000/year.

BDB

[Who's Your Daddy?]

The owners are making a killing. Same with English kindergartens charging 1M per month per student.

[coralreefer_1]

Answer - supply and demand

[byrddogs]

[baedaebok]

I meant this:

KSA
USD50,000 salary for IS teacher in KSA
USD8,000 tuition payment/child attending IS in KSA

ROK
USD? salary for IS teacher in KSA (I expect much lower than 50K)
USD25,000 tuition payment/child attending IS in ROK

[soomin]

My friend worked at an international school in Seoul, but she made about the same as at a regular hagwon... But, that might have had to do with the fact that it was a religious international school and the focus was supposed to be on God's work rather than on pay...

Looking on Dave's job board...

2.2-2.5mil KRW http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=53851 (e-2)
2.5-3.0 mil KRW http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=53785 (only f2/f4)

[definitely maybe]

A number of them are accredited through the Korean Ministry of Education, as opposed to international accreditation organizations. This could account for gaps in pay, facilities, qualifications, etc. There are a few schools in and around Seoul that are quite competitive though, and salaries there tend to be on par with the rest of the world. Keep in mind, there are also salary steps that take education and experience into account, and the examples I have seen while researching international education tend to be fairly uniform.

The stuff that tends to advertised on places like Dave's is for international schools that are known to fall in lower tiers, may not actually be "international/foreign", maintain enrollments that are significantly Korean as opposed to international, and keep an eye on profit vs. quality of education.

[cdninkorea]

I met a teacher at Seoul Foreign School, and he told me that most of the students' parents don't pay the tuition themselves. This is likely part of the reason for the high price- most of the time either their embassies pay (if the students' parents are diplomats) or their companies pay (if they students' parents are executives on an expat package).

[sml7285]

[ttompatz]

[byrddogs]

[Nismo]

Quit your whinging! For those prices you get top-of-the-line mediocrity! And a school bus (for an additional fee).

[philthor]

If you simply go to some of the websites of the various international schools in Korea, many of them list the salary scales for teachers. Also, they should have information regarding their accreditation.

Commonly, international schools pay in dollars often with a portion of the salary in the local currency. The school I work for pays totally in won; however, it is tied to a specific dollar amount so regardless of currency fluctuation, I am making practically the same amount in dollars (two days prior to depositing salaries, my school checks the exchange rate and uses that information).

From what I've seen, a fair starting salary for an international school in Korea (and when I use the term international, it means accredited and requiring teaching certification) should range from 2.7 million to 3.2 million--this is far from an exhaustive survey.

[thunderbird]

[quote="soomin"]My friend worked at an international school in Seoul, but she made about the same as at a regular hagwon... But, that might have had to do with the fact that it was a religious international school and the focus was supposed to be on God's work rather than on pay...

Looking on Dave's job board...

2.2-2.5mil KRW http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=53851 (e-2)
2.5-3.0 mil KRW http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=53785 (only f2/f4)[/quote
wow thats amazing. i make more teaching hagwon

[philthor]

@thunderbird

I quickly scanned the first link, and from what I could tell, all of the listings were for language schools, not international schools (sorry if I missed it), and the second link also appears to be a language school.

If you go to

http://www.shambles.net/southkorea/

you can find links for several international schools.

In my perusal of the schools, I was wrong about many putting up the salary offerings. However, with a little bit of research on my own, below is what I found for salaries.

What I did find, though, was Busan Foreign school offers a Teaching salary from 2,500,000 (KRW) to 4,081,200 (KRW) + housing + benefits

Daegu International School offers US $30,000- $45,000 (depending on experience, education and specific skills).

Gyeonggi Suwon International school has a slightly complicated pay scale:
http://www.gsis.sc.kr/_uploads/docs/1112GSIS_ODH_SalayBenefit.pdf
The lowest salary looks to be about 2.6 million a month (fresh out of college) up to 4.5 million a month (but that's for a Ph.D and 15 years of experience).

Gyeongnam International Foreign School 2,500,000 (KRW) to 4,081,200 (KRW) + housing + benefits.

Asia Pacific International School starting salary ranging from $34,000- $46,000. Paid in 70%USD, 30% Korean Won

Korea International School Teacher Salary $38,200 - $55,200 per year

Seoul Foreign School Teachers (starting salary) $43,455 - 52,055

Yongsan International School of Seoul Teachers - $28,000- $35,000

Rainbow International School 26,000 USD Up to: 35,000 USD

Clearly SFS has the best pay.