Posts from — January 2007

Two weeks ago, I posted about the raids on Bangkok area schools by members of the immigration police. Several teachers were taken into custody during the raids and two of these, at the time of this writing, still remain behind bars in Bangkok. The simple story might be that two teachers were arrested because they were caught using fake degrees. Yo my friends, the story is never simple.

Do the crime, do the time? Hah! Don’t be so heartless ’till ya know all the facts. The two arrested, one Brit and one Canadian, worked at our newest Hall of Shame school, Kornpitacksuksa School in the Bangbon area of Bangkok, Thailand. You can read the Hall of Shame induction on this link. There is a lot of information that hasn’t been shared with the public concerning these arrests and the press is ignoring the plight of these teachers. Ain’t that just cozy?

On Friday, January 12th, 2007, members of the immigration police visited several schools, including Kornpitacksuksa School. Most of the teachers at this school were led to the roof in order to hide out until the coast was clear. Two teachers were not. They were summoned to the office and turned over to the immigration police, just like a couple of sacrificial lambs.

The immigration police knew these teachers did not have proper documentation. One of the teachers was hired by the school with just a 2 year diploma. The school was desperate for teachers and, at the time, felt that this would be sufficient to get a work permit and teacher’s license for the teacher. They were wrong and the Thai Ministry of Education asked for a 4 year from the teacher. Kornpitacksuksa School told the teacher that he should obtain a fake degree and they would use that to submit to the MOE. The teacher complied and he received his teacher’s license only to have it revoked a short time later because the MOE discovered it was fake. Big surprise, right?

Ever desperate for a good teacher, the school administration used one of its sister companies to hire the teacher with the position of graphic designer. The teacher didn’t think anything about it. After all, this is Thailand. He had a work permit, 1 year visa and was continuing to teach at the same school. What more did he need? Obviously a lot more.

The immigration police came to Kornpitacksuksa School looking for this teacher and any other that they could get their grubby little paws on. They arrested him along with another teacher. They were thrown in jail and it has been reported that they were sentenced to 3 months in jail for their offense. What happened to the school administrators? Nothing, nothing at all. Never mind the common law Thai wife of one of the teachers or the Filipina wife of the other teacher. Mai pen rai, isn’t that a Thai expression.

I say pen rai. It is time we cared, it is time we gave a damn. These teachers were done wrong by Thai government, they were done wrong by the school, sure the teachers were culpable, but so was the school. Why isn’t a school administrator warming the jail cell next to them? This is just plain wrong, but enough said by me. I want to hear what you have to say about this.

The reports I keep hearing out of Thailand are pure BS. I don’t know why TEFL teachers are putting up with so much BS, but they are. I got images right now of teachers in shirt and ties running out of the side gate of decrepit old schools with immigration police in hot pursuit. Why would anyone go through that?
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Where do you find the worst schools and institutes to work for? In the TEFLWatch Hall of Shame! Where else can ya find schools runs by floosers in beemers? Much discussion has taken place about how TEFLWatch should proceed in outting the bad schools and providing a voice for TEFL teachers. I took the time to analyze the issue and with some good advice from some of y’all, I came with up some solid ideas for TEFLWatch’s 2nd year.

First out, the Hall of Shame ain’t goin’ anywhere, but we got some new things happenin’ here. If you read last week’s missive, the Good Vibes Lounge is open for business. Wanna suggest a good school, a school that gives you a good vibe? Suggest it in our forum. Yo, I wanna hear about them good vibes. Same rules as the Hall of Shame. 30 days in the forum before we can put it out in the Good Vibes Lounge.

What about the Hall of Shame? It ain’t goin’ nowhere, but schools in it will be reviewed after a year and evidence against them will be weighed to see if their continued place in the Hall of Shame is warranted. Yes? They stay and I will tell you why. No? I will decide to where to put ‘em and tell you why. It prolly ain’t gonna be the Good Vibes Lounge, more than likely they will get into our Caution Corral.

The HOS is our red list, the GVL is our green list, and now we got a yellow list, the Caution Corral. The Caution Corral ain’t gonna have any induction postings. Just a lot of good links to information we have about schools that you may need to be cautious about. Helping teachers out is what we are about.

What about TEFL Courses, all of the TEFL Course reviews will stay on TEFL News along with their mover and shaker interviews.

Want TEFL Jobs? We’ve had the ESL Job Feed up for awhile and it’s a popular feature here. It is great for international jobs and it will continue to be on our site, but look for somethin’ special comin’ out next week for job seekers and quality schools that want to hire quality teachers.

A new year and new ideas. It’s time we take TEFLWatch to the next level. Come on, let’s go!

Time for a new poll and I am anxious to know what you think the best country for a newbie teacher is? Best in terms of salary, conditions, and other opportunities to get their feet wet. I put several countries in the list, if the one think ain’t in it, leave a comment. Heck leave a comment with suggestions for newbie teachers. Let’s help each other out. Again, what is the best country for a new and inexperienced TEFL teacher to get experience in?

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