Korean Job Discussion Forums

[canukteacher]

For any of you considering one of these fine GEPIK jobs for next year, and rumour is that Kyunngi Province plans on adding another 100 foreign teachers to the program, read this first. I hope this information will help you make an informed decision.

1. There is no Winter Camp plan or directive. Now in some ways this is good, but in other ways a total screw up. Considering that most schools have few if any rescources to pull these camps together with planning has been difficult to say the least.

2. At least in my area, (5 schools) the foreign teachers have been given 100% responsibility for planning, developing, implementing. There is NO assistance from the Korean co-teachers. In fact in many of the schools the co-teachers have gone on vacation and we have been left with a duty teacher in the classroom, who in many cases speaks ZERO ENGLISH.

3. Most of us are teaching 22 hours a week. We must stay in the school for the remaining 18. Remember the school is empty of all teachers with the exception (in most cases) of the VP, and duty teacher. There are no students. If you can find an excuse to leave early you must have a book signed by 3 different people before you can be released.

4. Remember there is no additional compensation for these camps.

5. Today is the first day..............25% of my kids did not show up, and another 25% showed up late. Now you can tell these camps are really valued by the parents and students.

6. The room I was given for this winter camp was filthy. Floors and desks had to be scrubbed before we could even think of spending a month in this classroom with students.

7. The local education office in this area has planned a special camp for 100 students. After planning the camp for the morning, last week in Jan, they asked the area teachers if we wanted to work it...........50,000per hour. we all said yes, but one problem, we all teach in the morning. They came back today and said SORRY we can't change the hours of this winter camp. If you can change your camps to the afternoon then you can work this one for the extra money. If not, then we will hire hagwon teachers. This shows you how much the Dept of Education values the teachers they have hired.


The information I am passing on here is just the tip of the iceberg.
There are HUGE problems with this program, and I don't see it getting better.

In fact, the latest rumour is that GEPIK management has "gotten wind" that many teachers are unhappy, and that there is talk that they are going to try and make teachers deposit a large sum of money. If a teacher leaves before the year is up he or she would lose this money. I can't imagine that they can get away with this at this point, but just to know that management may be considering such a move is scary. I don't know if this is true or not, but it is in the rumour mill.

Remember the highest paid GEPIK teacher is at 2.3 mil, and you must be at the school 40 hours per week. When you do the math it is not a great paying job.

All I am saying is consider what I have told you here, and make an informed decision before signing any contract with GEPIK.

CT

[manlyboy]

Compared to the crap I've dealt with in hagwons, the problems we experience in GEPIK don't bother me that much. Well, my co-teacher bothers me, but that's not GEPIK's fault.

To anyone in hagwons where you're teaching six hours straight every day, are constantly under threat of getting screwed, have no paid vacations or paid sick days, and are generally treated like an expendable amateur, GEPIK would be a step up imo.

[crazylemongirl]

[peppermint]

Oh, and it my experience- you get less respect at the public school than at the hagwon- at least from staff.

[manlyboy]

[Sliver]

2.31 million per month.

4 weeks holiday, 2 weeks in winter (just passed by, spent them in Kyoto), 1 week in summer, 1 week at year change over in March plus we have just arranged to work Saturday the 5th of feb to get Sun - Thu holiday at solar new year.

One hour contact time on contract = 50 minutes. The maximum contact hours before over time is 25.

Overtime (30,000 won per hour) always paid (even at 30 minutes extra per week bringing in the extra 60,000 per month)

Happy that you spend the other 18 hours lounging (though I doubt that you do - you're not bad guy so I know you plan lessons, grade etc).

Maximum class size 12 (13).

That said I know that this is not the norm and yes there is still the typical hagwon suiff that one has to deal with sometimes.

Bonuses for vacations time and a sweetener of 300,000 if you take no sick days off thru the year.

Not as good as the uni gig probably but it is an answer to your statement

[Grotto]

gepik is stupid they have no idea of what they are doing. They put the teachers in the school and then they make things difficult, demands for paperwork without any notice, worthless time consuming meetings and other things not specified in the contract.

On the flip side.

22 forty minute classes a week. Any more you get 20,000 won per class.
Curriculum for regular classes is provided in detailed lesson plans(although the curriculum needs work it is still better than most hogwans)
The 40 hours a week is boring, bring a movie or whatever to kill time. I brought some games and put them on the computer in my class...fun to play on the 64" big screen TV.

Co-teachers...vary widely in ability and quality.
Winter camps...not being told when they were, what they wanted or any basic information...kind of sucked. Now that the camp is in full swing it is kind of fun.

After doing two years of hogwan hell this is much better IMHO.

It would rock if GEPIK would keep thier hands off a bit and supply some help for teachers. Typically they dont want any feedback from the teachers, they dont want to know about complaints, they are afraid of this program coming off like EPIK....which is happening.

[schwa]

Happy epik camper reporting in! Nice to see the slagging shifted off onto a different program. The gepik thing is undergoing birthing pains but will undoubtedly mature as some districts confirm good working relationships with capable teachers. Benefits to be had. Disgruntled hagwonites, dont expect instant bliss! New program, new affinities to work out. Your coworkers watch you to get a take on foreigners -- get along & get ahead! The Korean public school system is moving forward, with you or without you.

[Daechidong Waygookin]

EPIK looks like a hit ot miss. Some get good benefits but a lot get jobs not much better than haggie jobs. Remember, there are public school jobs out there that are npot under the umbrella of EPIK or GEPIK. And they offer way better conditions.

[turtlepi1]

Some GEPIK people have legitimate gripes...
Many of them just need to get an adult size soother...

The things people find to complain about are just stupid...starting with the winter camps..."they weren't in our contract...meow meow..." Yes they were...covered under the 22 hours contact time...and 7 days vacation in winter and summer...do the math...

[adventureman]

[trevorcollins]

[Derrek]

Funny... now they are spazing that teachers are becoming unhappy.

Requiring money? AHHAHAHAHA!

They'd find themselves with a lot of runners fast!

[Mosley]

Ha, ha! Thanks for remembering us, adventureman. Yes, Mody Ba...RIP. I, on the other hand, am very much alive & well. That will be to the consternation of a few here at Dave's...it will hurt them even more to know that I might very well be back to the peculiar peninsula later this year....

Folks, schwa is an old nemesis of mine and a relentless apologist for EPIK. Certainly sounds like to me that the OP's gripes are legitimate and, sadly, not surprising....

Teaching programs in East Asia? JET ROCKS and EPIK(I'm going to put this charitably)...does not....

[Grotto]

There have been alot of comparisons by us GEPIK teachers to the JET program and we wish that our program was being run half as well as the JET program.