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Smee
Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Location: Jeollanam-do
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 Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:15 pm Post subject: Older, experienced teachers being turned away. |
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In spite of the lip-service paid to hiring "qualified" teachers, older, experienced ones are being turned away by recruiters and public schools.
Here's an email a reader passed along to me from a recruiter in response to an inquiry about a 53-year-old teacher with four years experience with GEPIK trying to find a job near Seoul:
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| I know many experience teachers are having hard time to find a job in Korea because of their age . . . GEPIK has cut down on their budget for native English speaker teachers from this coming semester and now they can�t afford higher level teachers. |
Other recruiting agencies are advertising that, in line with requests from GEPIK, EPIK, and SMOE, teachers over 50 may not find jobs in their public schools.
More at: http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2010/04/no-room-for-older-experienced-teachers.html |
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Chet Wautlands
Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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| This should serve as a reminder to anyone who wants to stay for a long time in Korea to find a way to get out of public schools and into something else. If you are a public school teacher and you want to be in Korea for 5+ years, get some qualifications. |
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vaticanhotline
Joined: 18 Jun 2009
Location: in the most decent sometimes sun
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Not to demean the profession or anything, but you can see where their logic comes from-money's tight, so they can't afford to hire experienced teachers for what is often just a human tape-recorder job (judging by the posts on this site). Why, you may ask? I think there are four or five hundred thousand reasons why, when you compare the difference in pay for an experienced teacher and someone fresh out of college with a degree in basket-weaving and a TEFL cert. |
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air76
Joined: 13 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:44 pm Post subject: |
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| The money argument is clearly BS as an experienced teacher would only make a few hundred dollars more per month. This is an excuse to hire younger teachers, which is wrong, but just they way they do things here. Life's not fair. |
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Pa Jan Jo A Hamnida
Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Location: Not Korea
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Life has a way of getting in the way of being a lifer. It's a young, blond and thin game. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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| air76 wrote: |
| The money argument is clearly BS as an experienced teacher would only make a few hundred dollars more per month. This is an excuse to hire younger teachers, which is wrong, but just they way they do things here. Life's not fair. |
Not necessarily true in a number of cases.
An experienced teacher can make up to a thousand a month more than someone fresh out college. That's $13000 extra per year. Plus the pension contribution and medical insurance contribution is bigger.
So roughly 15000 or so per year multiply that by say 100 older experienced teachers and that is $1500000 they've saved every year.
And that's just by hiring 100 newbies as opposed to these older teachers. More newbies more savings. Even it were just a few hundred dollars...multiply that by the 30,000 or so E-2 visa jobs and that's a lot of cash savings. |
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thegadfly
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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Do you imagine this is just a Korea thing? Same thing happens back in the US -- they just hide it better there. In fact, many school choose less experienced teachers in order to save money -- it is pretty well-known that you should not get your MA until you have tenure, because the pay bump is enough to make you lose/not get a job....
It is certainly wrong wherever it occurs, but don't act all outraged that "Koreans" do it -- "people" do it. |
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Snowkr
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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thank you, thegadfly.
I couldn't have said it any better myself! |
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asylum seeker
Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Location: On your computer screen.
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:16 am Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| air76 wrote: |
| The money argument is clearly BS as an experienced teacher would only make a few hundred dollars more per month. This is an excuse to hire younger teachers, which is wrong, but just they way they do things here. Life's not fair. |
Not necessarily true in a number of cases.
An experienced teacher can make up to a thousand a month more than someone fresh out college. That's $13000 extra per year. Plus the pension contribution and medical insurance contribution is bigger.
So roughly 15000 or so per year multiply that by say 100 older experienced teachers and that is $1500000 they've saved every year.
And that's just by hiring 100 newbies as opposed to these older teachers. More newbies more savings. Even it were just a few hundred dollars...multiply that by the 30,000 or so E-2 visa jobs and that's a lot of cash savings. |
A thousand a month more? |
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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:51 am Post subject: |
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| asylum seeker wrote: |
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| air76 wrote: |
| The money argument is clearly BS as an experienced teacher would only make a few hundred dollars more per month. This is an excuse to hire younger teachers, which is wrong, but just they way they do things here. Life's not fair. |
Not necessarily true in a number of cases.
An experienced teacher can make up to a thousand a month more than someone fresh out college. That's $13000 extra per year. Plus the pension contribution and medical insurance contribution is bigger.
So roughly 15000 or so per year multiply that by say 100 older experienced teachers and that is $1500000 they've saved every year.
And that's just by hiring 100 newbies as opposed to these older teachers. More newbies more savings. Even it were just a few hundred dollars...multiply that by the 30,000 or so E-2 visa jobs and that's a lot of cash savings. |
A thousand a month more? |
bottom of the pay-scale to the top of it can be that much in public schools |
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southernman
Joined: 15 Jan 2010
Location: On the mainland again
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 4:03 am Post subject: |
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I agree with others its heaps cheaper/less stress to employ a young inexperienced graduate, especially when you take into account the medical insurance and more mallable nature. Age discrimination is very much alive and well in all countries, sadly
I was told by a Korean teacher last week that he hadn't been paid his bonus money yet, it was due April 1st. He said the Korean President has come out and said he hates Government workers... something due to the fact he's ex private sector. So maybe no pay rises in the forseeable future either 
So its not only older western teachers who are having it hard right now... |
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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 4:11 am Post subject: |
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| southernman wrote: |
I agree with others its heaps cheaper/less stress to employ a young inexperienced graduate, especially when you take into account the medical insurance and more mallable nature. Age discrimination is very much alive and well in all countries, sadly
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While I'm not that worried, it stays in the back of my mind (I'm higher ps) and have had a bad year with some crazy injuries. I'm not in the age group that was mentioned OP-wise, but I'm not fresh off the boat either. I will just continue to do my best and hope for the best when renewal time comes up. In my case, it alls comes down to evaluations and how much my school appreciates what I do for them. The rest is in the hands of the district and MoE. |
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asylum seeker
Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Location: On your computer screen.
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 4:23 am Post subject: |
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| byrddogs wrote: |
| asylum seeker wrote: |
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| air76 wrote: |
| The money argument is clearly BS as an experienced teacher would only make a few hundred dollars more per month. This is an excuse to hire younger teachers, which is wrong, but just they way they do things here. Life's not fair. |
Not necessarily true in a number of cases.
An experienced teacher can make up to a thousand a month more than someone fresh out college. That's $13000 extra per year. Plus the pension contribution and medical insurance contribution is bigger.
So roughly 15000 or so per year multiply that by say 100 older experienced teachers and that is $1500000 they've saved every year.
And that's just by hiring 100 newbies as opposed to these older teachers. More newbies more savings. Even it were just a few hundred dollars...multiply that by the 30,000 or so E-2 visa jobs and that's a lot of cash savings. |
A thousand a month more? |
bottom of the pay-scale to the top of it can be that much in public schools |
The top of the pay-scale is about 2.9 then? |
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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 4:25 am Post subject: |
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| asylum seeker wrote: |
| byrddogs wrote: |
| asylum seeker wrote: |
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| air76 wrote: |
| The money argument is clearly BS as an experienced teacher would only make a few hundred dollars more per month. This is an excuse to hire younger teachers, which is wrong, but just they way they do things here. Life's not fair. |
Not necessarily true in a number of cases.
An experienced teacher can make up to a thousand a month more than someone fresh out college. That's $13000 extra per year. Plus the pension contribution and medical insurance contribution is bigger.
So roughly 15000 or so per year multiply that by say 100 older experienced teachers and that is $1500000 they've saved every year.
And that's just by hiring 100 newbies as opposed to these older teachers. More newbies more savings. Even it were just a few hundred dollars...multiply that by the 30,000 or so E-2 visa jobs and that's a lot of cash savings. |
A thousand a month more? |
bottom of the pay-scale to the top of it can be that much in public schools |
The top of the pay-scale is about 2.9 then? |
base pay in public school tops; seems to be about the limit now |
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Jandar
Joined: 11 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 10:48 am Post subject: |
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| Maybe they saw an episode of "Breaking Bad"? |
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