Korean Job Discussion Forums

[oatmeal]

I've been with my school over 5 years now and was thinking about not renewing next year. But today they told me they want to keep me and for the next 2 years (2016-2017, then 2017-2018). But not sure exactly, I think I heard them say something like we only have 2 years left anyways (meaning until Feb.2018). March 2018, all GEPIK will be replaced by EPIK i think.

My question is: does this mean that even if the school still wants to keep you in 2018 and beyond, they can't? Does this mean that no matter what, if you are a GEPIK teacher right now employed by your public school, when March 2018 comes, we all all be FORCED to leave our schools because EPIK is going to bring in their own hired teachers?

I don't get this. Why couldn't they just transfer the current GEPIK teachers over to EPIK without firing us first and then re-hiring us if we re-apply? It sounds like that's what it is.

Does anyone know or can confirm this is true or not? So basically, 2018 march is like a COMPLETE RESET? Everyone will be fired and EPIK hired teachers will replace all GEPIK teachers? I thought the only difference was that GEPIK (the education program) was being taken over by EPIK, but all the employees just dolly over to the EPIK conditions.

So as a GEPIK teacher, I'm getting fired in Feb. 2018 and EPIK hired teachers will replace me at my school in March 2018?

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[isitts]

First of all, it’s two years from now. There’s no way your school can plan that far ahead on whether they can keep you or not anyway. Two years, dude! No need to drop bricks over this.

Second, I think you’re making mountains out of molehills here. What do you mean “EPIK’s hired teachers”? It’s not like they have some army of teachers ready to move in on Gyeonggi-do for when that time comes. If you’re an established teacher with any recruiter (like Korvia), then you know filling out these applications is more or less a formality. You don’t get sent to the back of the line. Even if you have to interview with EPIK, you’d be in a comfortable position to do so as you’d already be working for an EPIK school.

Third, if you’ve been here five years straight, maybe you can apply for an F-299 visa and not be bothered with all this.

Five years at one GEPIK school is pretty lucky. I’ve been here six years and am at my third school. Benefits are still the same, though. So it's not that big a deal. GEPIK has been hurting for a while now so this isn't much of a surprise. Changing over to EPIK sounds like a good thing to me.

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UPDATE:

So I called GPOE today and they told me that by spring 2018, EPIK will take over the hiring process 100%.

So I was right. This means that ALL GEPIK teachers will not be renewed or another way of putting it, they will all be laid off, forced to vacate their schools and RE-APPLY to EPIK if you want to keep working.

If, and that's a big "IF" they accept your application and hire you again, you will be randomly placed in a rural school. That school might just happen to be the same school you had to vacate or a school nearby (coincidence). That's why I think it's kind of weird that they ask you to go through this hiring process again just so that you could end up in the same situation as you were in before.

So yes, all GEPIK teachers will be removed and then replaced by new EPIK hirees. Of course, those new EPIK hirees might end up being those GEPIK teachers that were removed and just re-applied LOL.

Don't you see the ridiculousness in this cycle?

The only time this is good is for the bad apples they "weed out" via removing all GEPIK teachers and having them re-apply to the new and higher standards set by EPIK. But for those who end up getting re-hired, this whole process will just be a waste and pointless exercise to just end up in the same spot as you were. They couldn't just let us renew with our school only with a new EPIK contract? I don't get this.

[isitts]

[oatmeal]

I know that nobody really knows all the details since 2018 is so far from now, but all I'm asking is "when" all GEPIK schools are completely under EPIK by spring 2018, will ALL GEPIK teachers have to vacate their jobs and go through the entire hiring process again with EPIK just to land the same job we were already in?

In other words, I leave my job, get back in line to re-apply for the same job I was just sitting in, and then they put me back in the same job I was just sitting in.

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[isitts]

[wonkavite62]

As regards 2018, you have to remember that education policy in South Korea is really short-term. in December 2007, a new government massively ramped up the number of western people in public schools in Korea, even though they made the E-2 visa significantly harder to get. The GEPIK and EPIK cutbacks only really started after the current president took office, and she will be gone by 2018, and replaced by someone with a different agenda.
So to be really accurate, we can't predict what will happen in 2018. It's quite unstable right now. It is even possible that a new president will be more favourable to your needs. Or worse.
Is it possible for your school to opt out of EPIK and Gepik, in such a way that they can choose to keep you on? Ask politely, and let them see you really want to stay. You have done extraordinarily well so far, to be kept on so long at your school, they even want you till 2018. But you can say you want to stay longer.
I noticed that Shinzo Abe is talking about expanding the Japanese JET Scheme. I hope he does so, big time, because it will give all these young Americans an alternative to Korea, which let's face it, can be cutthroat and dodgy. It will also be less competition for us who want to stay in Korea.

[isitts]

Checked the Korvia GEPIK page on Facebook today and someone had posted the official notice on this.

They are actually starting to put this into effect this March (2016). But it will only affect schools that are GPOE funded. Schools that are funded by their respective city halls will not be affected for the time being. But it is expected that all* GEPIK schools will have been handed over to EPIK by 2018. And EPIK will be deciding your location. *[EDIT]: Again, it seems this is just GPOE funded schools. So, "all school" seems to mean "all GPOE funded schools" by 2018.

What’s more, it looks like locations will be primarily rural. The notice said, “all GPOE funded schools will be located in rural areas.” Nothing is made clear about urban/suburban schools, but I guess those would be funded by City Hall, and therefore, unaffected by this. Not sure if that will remain the case by 2018. The notice doesn’t seem to say.

[EDIT]: It's looking like this is only affecting GPOE funded schools...even in 2018. City Hall schools, it appears, will still be able to hire their own teachers or keep their teachers on.

So Oatmeal, sounds like if your school is City Hall funded, you're fine. If it's GPOE funded....well, not so fine.

Here's the link where you can download the notice:
https://edup.goe.go.kr/gfe/e1_008/e2_017/bbs/bbsView.do?bbs_seq_n=53390&bbs_cd_n=284&currentPage=0&search_key_n=&search_val_v=&cate_n=&cate_n2=&dept_v=&lsyear=&lsyear_before=

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[wonkavite62]

It looks like you're fine until 2018. But if you're worried about post 2018 try to save some money now so that you will be okay if your position is cut. I mean enjoy yourself but don't splurge on holidays, like I did last year. You might want to save up for a teacher training course and be a registered teacher in your own country, which will also give you an advantage when job hunting in Asia.