Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Captain Corea]

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200505/kt2005052920203010510.htm

[inkoreaforgood]

Won't happen, even with 5 years to work with, it won't happen. All the details that need to be taken care of, and all the chances for people to steal money (re: EPIK), it'll be a flop.

[Saxiif]

This is a good thing. This'll drive a lot of the low-end shitty hagwons out of business and I've been running into a lot of people getting fed up with hagwons and switching to public schools where they at least know they'll get paid. Hopefully this'll lead to better treatment and higher pay for all of us, basic supply and demand...

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I just love thinking about what this is going to do to the hogwans, both in terms of finding teachers and parents deciding they don't need them.

[Captain Corea]

I just don't get it...

Public schools now want:
-A BA or higher.
-Preferably an Education degree
-a TESL, TESOL (more than 100 hours)
-teaching experience
-Korean "cultural awareness"
-ect...

And for all that they offer 2,000,000won!!??

Ok, lets say for example I do have all that. I'm living somewhere in the "western world" and I have oodles of qualifications. Why on earth would I come to Korea for that kind of money? Why would I leave my connections, family, friends, JOB (!!), just to come over here and teach for 2 mill??

If they want to fill all those positions they will be hard pressed to with these requirements. I know there are "tons" of people wanting to come over here and are willing to work for that wage. The problem is though, that the majority of them are recent graduates with very few of the above requirements.

So, why do those in the Education board feel that Korea is SO DAM APPEALING that people will drop everything they have back home just to come here and be a weigookin?

[guangho]

Being stared at and made fun of in Korean is it's own reward.

[crazylemongirl]

[Captain Corea]

You knwo, I DID forget that! Doh!

Seriously, do they teach "shooting yourself in your own foot 101" in university here?

[turtlepi1]

EPIK - High school students. They might be a bit out of hand but they have tests that focus on English so they also have "some" work ethic.

GEPIK - Elementary schools students. In my experience a little hard to control sometimes but generally "nice" kids, until the middle of grade 6 when they realize middle school is coming up and they are no longer children.

MEPIK(?) - WHAT A FUCKING NIGHTMARE!!! That is the group of students I really don't wanna have to teach (I have had some great middle school students so I am generalizing to some degree.) Forced to do it I would pick up my marbles and go home.

[crazylemongirl]

[Col.Brandon]

[Derrek]

[Kimchieluver]

Captain Corea,

Sure, it's only 2 million won. You do however get free housing similar to that of a prison cell except no hot water. Also you are in the hub of Asia.

[crazylemongirl]

[Sadebugo1]

I entered EPIK/KORETTA during its infancy in summer '96. The original plan that year was to get 1000 native speakers with MAs in related fields and/or certified teachers. They hired in five phases over the summer hoping to have 200 teachers/phase. I came in phase four and there were only 86 teachers in that phase. At the time, we were told it was the biggest phase and that the original requirements had dropped to just needing a 'BA in anything.' They added two more phases in the fall to try to make up the difference but the total haul in '96 was only about 450 teachers.

Now, consider this. The contract then provided $2000 American for Level I and $1500 for Level II (only two levels at that time). The salary was pegged to the dollar so there was no worry about currency fluctuation. It also allowed for 30 days vacation/year although most teachers got more depending upon the kindness of their schools.

Jumping ahead to summer '97, the contract basically remained the same except for dropping the dollar peg and paying a flat amount in won/month. In November, the Asian crisis hit and a number of teachers began to leave. I finished my contract and fully intended to stay a third year until I saw the new contract ('9. It had cut back the vacation to two weeks and offered a nominal pay raise. Furthermore, we were expected to travel to other schools and teach to ensure that we fulfilled the 25 hour/week teaching requirement (because of scheduling, some schools had their native speaker teaching only 20/week). I think we had all entered the contract meeting expecting better benefits due to the reduction in salary based on the exchange rate. Instead, they tightened the contract even further as if they didn't want to retain anyone. By the end of that summer only nine of 49 teachers remained in the city where I worked.

Moral of the story . . . the Korean government has always had unrealistic expectations when it comes to programs like this. If they couldn't meet the hiring quotas in the economic heyday, why would they be able to do so now especially considering the current xenophobia, failing economy, and competitive alternatives in other countries for teaching English. Since '98 EPIK and equivalent programs have not even come close to meeting goals and seem to refuse to make the contract worthy enough to do so. Ultimately, this program will fail like all the rest because of corruption, incompetence, etc.