Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mithridates]

I know there was a thread on this before but I can't find it.

I keep getting people on my home page touting the '95% of English teachers are illegal' bit from tv a few weeks ago. Are there any numbers to prove that the 95% is impossible? I forget how many people here have E-2 visas but for 95% to be the case there would have to be twenty times that number of illegal teachers working.

[JongnoGuru]

umm... Wasn't it 95% are unqualified? Perhaps they're suggesting that all but 5% have bogus, doctored degrees & other credentials? Or, could it be the sum total of several "illegal" activities:

1) All teachers who lack degrees but were hired anyway

2) All teachers who have phoney, doctored degrees

3) All teachers who have bona fide degrees and certificates, BUT who are teaching privates

4) (same as 3, but) ... who are farmed out to other schools/offices in violation of their visa stipulation

This list could go on a bit longer, I guess, and there's bound to be a lot of overlapping/intersecting. Either the 95% figure was calculated in some random, unscientific way like this (often happens in the media here), or it was simply plucked from someone's donkey. In any case, ask the people tossing the figure around to explain what they mean in detail. I bet 95% will tell you it's just something they heard and accepted as gospel.

[JacktheCat]

I've heard that a lot from my Korean friends and acquaintances recently,

"95% of waegukin English teachers have fake [qualifications]"

I guess it's just one of those things that has entered the Korean mindset and become accepted as fact.

[Daechidong Waygookin]

[JacktheCat]

Koreans are not the only ones who do it.

Americans have accepted as fact that marijuana use is dangerous and leads to the use of harder drugs, despite all scientific evidence to the contrary.

[Real Reality]

The report, entitled "Is Korea their Paradise? Report on the Real Conditions of Blond-haired, Blue-eyed Teachers," reveals that teachers at some language schools engage in sexual relations with middle and high school students and offer their students marijuana. It says some teachers use fake academic records to get jobs with local private language schools, universities and businesses. The show includes fresh explosive comments by foreign teachers like, "I think only 5 percent of foreign English teachers in Korea are qualified," "Korean women are the easiest women to get into bed," and "I think of Korea as a big cash machine."
TV Program Warms Up Foreign Teacher Controversy
by Kim Jae-eun, Chosun Ilbo (February 21, 2005)
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200502/200502210020.html

According to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, there are 5,138 foreign language institutes and 6,410 foreign teachers in the country.
South Koreans' Zeal for English Leads to Abuse of 'Hagwon' System
By Matt Hodges
http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20050304/301900000020050304094627E6.html

[ladyandthetramp]

Although I think JongnoGuru is right, it's also possible that they mean 95% don't have teaching degrees. That could actually be close to accurate.

[Blind Willie]

I figure you're the right one.

[shakuhachi]

[Plutocracy]

In at least one way the misconception is handy. Since most of us have a degree, we look better since we are being compared to a non-existent vast majority of people who have worse credentials. It means that I am more qualified than 95% of ESLers, how could you not hire me?

[weatherman]

[riverboy]

The majority of Korean teachers in the Hogwan system are unqualified as well. My First manager had a degree in Dairy Science and learned English from Heavy Metal Lyrics.

[Chillin' Villain]

I think that whole thing just got started cuz of the one asshat foreigner who spouted off about only 5% of teachers being legal or having real degrees... Maybe he was trying to sound rebellious or flippant or something... I don't think there'd be much of a fuss about what kind of degrees people have, as not that many of us have teaching degrees in the first place.

While there certainly are a lot of illegal (as in no degree or fake degree) teachers here, I'd wager a Wonderland severance pay that it's nowhere near 95% of us... Dumb of the foreigner to say that, but even dumber and definitely irresponsible(r? haha) for the program to go ahead and air it like the truth.

Oh yeah, and dumb of Koreans to believe everything on the news... I mean, cuz, c'mon, we NEVER do that!!