Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Teufelswacht]

In case anyone is interested, this was in the KH today.

(If this has already been posted, my apologies for the duplication.)

[Hater Depot]

A fair, accurate article. I'm happy to see it, though I do have to wonder if this means the apocalypse will come soon. If so, I'd really like to know, because there's this bar in Pyeongtaek I have to go to before I die.

[lastat06513]

First of all, I want to help by telling the people about how to deal with unscrupulous employers;

- If you are legal~ If you are having problems with your boss, you always have the option of going to the labor board and file a formal complaint. Though to get results might take several weeks or months depending on how serious the case is.

- If you are not legal~ If you are here on a tourist visa and are having problems with your employer, you can always threaten to report them to the tax office. Korea takes tax evasion very seriously, especially with the current anti-grafting drive going on now. You can expect results in a matter of days as the tax office would initiate an audit into their income and expenditures. Then if you really get f^*k'd, you can leave the place and when they hire a new replacement, make an anonymous call to the immigration illegal hotline and report them. They would repsond on the same day depending on how soon in the day you would call them.


I think the author is a self-rightous smug jerk.
To be honest, with the way employers treat and cheat their staff, who would in their right mind work for these places full-time?
The current system being put into place is forcing people to work on tourist visas- who would want to be in a situation that controls what you do and tries to screw you at every possible moment? Who would want to jump though so many hurdles and hoops only to be screwed in the end?
I think the article is again trying to place the blame squarely on the foreign staff and the status alot of them come to work on.
What about the Koreans coming to the U.S. and working on their tourist visas? You don't hear too much about it here (I certainly don't)!

I am one who believes that illegals drive the economy, if people have the determination and willingness to do the work that some people can't do or won't do, I feel they can do it. If the hogwon owners hire bad teachers, it is on them and they should be the blame for providing bad education, not the foreigner. The foreigner is only applying for the position they think they are qualified or suited for.
I can't understand why the government is getting involved in something that can be settled at the hogwon level by thoroughly checking the qualifications of the teachers they hire (In China, it is up to the school to investigate the foreign teacher, not the immigration bureau of the bureau of Foreign Affairs).
But what is going on shows that these schools can't be trusted with handling the hiring process- a clear case of micromanagement.
True, there might be some teachers who should not be put in the classroom, both those teachers can be either legal as well as illegal, you can't put all teachers in one distinct catagory because of who they are, or you run the risk of racial discrimination, any highly educated person would realize that.
And KOTESOL is not an officially recognized organization, it doesn't get any funding from the government, so how can they get involved in this situation? They are only there for teachers to network themselves and to channel ideas on how to improve the method of teaching, not to get involved in other foreign teachers affairs.

[Zulu]

Sounds like the legitimate English instructors here (the vast majority from what I've seen) need a) a self-controlled rights advocate/union-type organization which can bargain for adequate pay, pensions, working conditions, holidays, and professional development, b) that English teaching here needs to be taken out of the hands of these shady Korean private operators who don't know a book from a bottle of booze, and into the hands of foreign entities which uphold international education standards (i.e. the British Council and groups like that). Jeez, I'm surprised anyone stays here with abuse like that.

[lastat06513]

Now the biggest problem is;


ESL/EFL education in Korea is nothing more than a business. Anyone with enough money can open a school and call themselves legit. There are very little checks to ensure that the quality and standards are in place to make the schools effective.
Some places are nothing more than ma'-n-pa' operations like a restaurant, with very little than a license to operate given to them by the local department of commerce. Some owners have no experience in education, but only open a school as a way to make a quick won.

Why can't the teachers be that way?
If the schools are nothing more than fly-by-night operations, that is also the kind of teachers they are going to hire and teach in the classroom.

In some cases, the problem is that some schools are in a small town where some people see the foreigner as a superstar (I have a friend in Iksan who feels that way), this leads the teacher to take advantage of the situation and for the school to sometimes exploit them- it becomes a bitter cycle. And to be honest- most teachers would rather work in a big city like Seoul or Busan and Daegu rather in a small place like Ansan or Jeonju.

My point is, there should be something put in place to guarantee the quality and standards of the schools before going after the teachers.

It is my understanding that hiring teachers comes after the school is set up not the other way around. At least that is my understanding.... so I feel the investigative process should also work that way.

[4 months left]

Thousands of illegal teachers? Really? Isn't that an extremely high estimate?

[Billy Pilgrim]

Fair enough, but the shake-up has to occur at both ends; root out the illegal teachers and also come down hard on hogwan cowboys, who are just out to fleece the maximum amount of money out of parents, while juggling them, the students and the teachers, with the teachers the most expendable for the drop.

The article briefly touches on employers, but seems to see illegal teachers as the main problem. But who employs them?