Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PeterDragon]

Well, I finally escaped my crapwon and moved out to a public school in a Designated Rural Area (first time I've seen cows since I left the Midwest).

My Hagwon was horrible. It was a sweatshop, a menace to the health and well being of its employees and its students alike. Details at the following link if anyone's morbidly curious: http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=92433

At any rate, now, that I'm safely established at my new job with the Gyonggi-Do public school, I feel almost obligated to warn others against it if I can. What's the best way to do this without getting sued? I don't have photos of the worst of the conditions, so evidence isn't readily available. I do have very good documentation of their refusal to give me health insurance, though. I just want people to know that my former employers run an unsafe, unclean school. offer unsafe unclean housing, do not honor their contracts, and will try to deport you even if you quit legitimately. I'm getting new horror stories relayed to me on a regular basis form the teachers who are still there.

Best course of action?

[davejohnson333]

Can someone post the thread URL where I can find the blacklisted schools that are listed on this forum? Thanks, David

[ttompatz]

[Wondering]

Wouldn't it be a shame if someone from back home made an account here and posted to tell everyone what their brother/friend went through and such and such hagwon? Wouldn't it be pretty much impossible for that hagwon to go after them? Could they really go after you for someone taking portions of your e-mails to them and posting them for the world to see? It'd be out of your control, wouldn't it? Wonder if that would work...

[Zark]

Comes a time to move on - and to not focus your life on bitterness or unhappy experiences.

I believe it is important to do some good research BEFORE you get hired to solve those problems - rather than afterwards.

Try here:

http://tefldaddy.com/Accepting_a_Job.htm

for some questions that should be asked BEFORE accepting a job.

[Wondering]

He wants to warn people. Have you read his previous threads? He's not the type to engage in petty revenge.

[boyne11]

Here's another place where you can do that:

http://forum.koredinco.com/viewforum.php?f=19

[buymybook]

[PeterDragon]

Just posted to the checklist. I'll look for a few more. It's not an all-consuming vendetta; if I honestly believed that blacklisting the school was guaranteed to put it out of business/significantly damage it, I'd think twice. I just want to do what I can to make it so they have a few more questions to answer from some of their future applicants, and that people who sign a contract there do so with their eyes open. I also love the format of the hagwon checklist--- the main prefilled complaint one can make about a school is that one found it "unacceptable". It's simple, yet subjective, leaving a clear message while minimizing hard facts or assertions that could easily be construed as libel.

I actually think this Hagwon could clean up its act at some point in the future--- I've talked to employees from earlier days who say the place was fairly reputable but got corrupt once business picked up and real money started rolling in.

[some waygug-in]

You can also post on here if you so desire:

http://www.englishschoolwatch.org/notebook.php


Not saying it will do any good though.

[wylies99]

Thanks for posting and warning others. Many fail to do this and leave the rest of us guessing.

[nick1753593]

[jlb]

Yeah, I like the idea of the "brother,sister,mom" posting on the blacklist sites.

Anyway, as for whether blacklisting actually makes a difference, I'm convinced that it does. Back in 2003, I went through hagwon hell and blacklisted my hagwon on every site I could find, including this one.

The rumor on the street is that for the time since I did that, the hagwon has had a horrible time trying to find teachers. They're sometimes without a foreign teacher for 3-4 months at a time.

[wylies99]

The information can become outdated quickly, but if you save even one other person from a year in hell, then you've done a great job. One day that person could be you.