Korean Job Discussion Forums

[own_king]

What's up with the vacation time at public schools these days? Most posts have only 10 days or two weeks. I always hear about how all these public school teachers are riding the gravy train with a month off in the summer and two months in the winter. Is this all a bunch of cr*p? Many hawgwans these days are offering 14 days + red days. I thought a public school gig would be the way to go, but I guess I'm mistaken.

[laogaiguk]

[Ya-ta Boy]

You might be confusing public schools with universities. They get more vacation time. My contract (high school) says 2 weeks, but I ended up with about 5 weeks off between Christmas and March 2. I haven't fully figured it out and I work here.

[crazylemongirl]

Because some butt munch in the district education office classes foreigners in korean schools as 'civil servants' not teachers, and has thus declared no more than 2 weeks vacation for the waygooks. So you get a case of teachers sitting in empty schools because of it.

There are some places that give 'under the table' vacations. If you get it, shut the hell up about it, as the surest way to lose it is when others start complaining to the powers that be about it.

[UncleAlex]

There once was a time when most public schools offered full vacation period
breaks in the written contract. But then the provincial G-Man stepped in and
ordered principals to do away with that contract. So more teachers must spend
their time doing camps or municipal teaching in the community for no extra
pay. Yet many schools do give more than one week off each vacation period
under the table. We'll see how long this concession lasts since, if I'm not mistaken,
the G-Man has threatened to fine schools that disregard the provincial guidelines
concerning the foreign teachers' time off.

[jinju]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

At the end of the day it all comes down to your school, and perhaps how much pressure they're under from educational authorities to deny you as much free time as possible. Technical / industrial high schools seem to offer the most, as they usually close down completely for six weeks during summer and winter. Academic high schools typically run winter / summer break classes for around four weeks on a skeleton staff, and if you're there that's one less Korean teacher who has to come in.

Despite all the 'only two weeks' talk you hear most people I know in public schools get at least a little more.

[tzechuk]

The job that I applied to give only 2 weeks... one in the winter, one in the summer. I was surprised, too..

Then again, the job is for an after school programme - hence the 11am start.

I wonder if they will do after school programme during vacation time, too??

[jinju]

[tzechuk]

Because I live in Daejeon??

[cdninkorea]

I get 6 weeks vacation time, and I work at a public school. I don't know if this is the norm though at other schools.

[flotsam]

I have a friend whose contract says he gets only two weeks. However, this friend of mine did a pretty good job the first semester and got a month off during the winter. However this friend had to be pretty firm and polite about getting it: he emphasized that the school had absolutely nothing for him to do that winter.

In the process my friend found out that through some loophole(and he has done the math a lot and cannot make heads or tales of it but he has decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth)if you teach 22 hours in a month, you legally qualify to be paid for the month. This may be the rule that covers sick days or emergency leave. He is not sure. In any case, after teaching a writing class for four four hours a day for two M-F weeks(they even fudged two hours for him) he was done for the winter.

Finally, when this friend politely mentioned to his school he would rather walk slowly out to sea and drown himself than teach a summer camp, he was told, "I really don't think we could make you do that. In fact, it's not going to happen."

It sucks that you can't get this kind of stuff written down in the contract, but with all the festival days, holidays, medical check-ups, exam days and whatever else have you, vacation at a public school is the way foward.

Sorry, I can't out you in touch with him because he needs to keep this all a secret. But I am sure this is a true story. Just as if it had happened to me.

Cheers.

[khyber]

my school says i should be getting around 10weeks. I've seen the school schedule and my principal has said "work in vacation? no. Vacation is for rest".
that was reassuring.
my district head (I work in busan so HE's my real boss) lined a job up for me teaching in a library (extra work). I mentioned that I don't want to work for my vacation days in august of jan.. He didn't even bat an eye.

Generally speaking, every person I know who is working in the EPIK (now B.E.P.) program in Busan will have around/at least that time off.
Only one friend of mine, in one particular district is likely to be working through some/most of the summer and she's fighting that.
If you apply to work in busan: DO NOT ASK FOR THE DONG GU DISTRICT!!!!!!!

you have been warne.d

[poet13]

hey flotsam.... question...
in your post were you saying that vacation is not paid? "..if you teach 22 hours in a month, you legally qualify to be paid for the month."
I thought, perhaps incorrectly, that an employee was paid for every month of work, whether worked or not. Could you please clarify?

[flotsam]