Can schools make sacrifices?
This specifically deals with Thailand and the current state of teaching in Thailand. Much has been talked about minimum requirements for teachers and having new requirements come into place over the last couple of months. Administrators and bureaucrats are on the warpath so to speak with new regulations and requirements, but little has been said about what schools should be providing their foreign teachers.
In the current climate, the Thai government has made it clear that the foreign teachers are guest workers in Thailand. It is high time that foreign teachers in Thailand are afforded the same respect. I believe that it is time for the government to pass rules and regulations dealing with the treatment of foreign teachers in Thailand.
1. The government should set a minimum salary for foreign teachers. 35,000 baht per month with less than 20 hours of teaching per week. I don’t think any differentiation is needed between Bangkok and up-country places. The old adage that is so much cheaper upcountry is more myth than fact.
2. All foreign teachers should receive a basic health cover whether it is a private plan or a government plan. How many teachers have been negatively affected by health care issues in Thailand? I do know that health cover is in the minds of many teachers nowadays and it is an issue that needs to be dealt with.
3. All foreign teachers should be provided with a choice of cash payment or a round trip ticket to their home country every year. Many teachers give up a lot coming to Thailand to teach as a guest worker and this is the bare minimum a pro-family country like Thailand should provide.
4. All foreign teachers should be provided acceptable accommodations by their school. They should be provided a furnished single apartment with modern conveniences. The price tag should be zero baht.
5. All foreign teachers should be provided with training opportunities. Schools should pay for their foreign teachers to attend TEFL conferences at least once a year to partake in training opportunities and sharing ideas with other TEFL community members.
I know these are pie in the sky proposals, but it is only right, and don’t you think we need to do it for the kids? Schools want us to make sacrifices for the kids, isn’t it time for schools to start making sacrifices as well?
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