How do the foreign teachers feel?

A number of teachers feel that while ensuring correct safeguarding is obviously of the highest importance, followed by setting a standard of academic excellence, all of which is perfectly acceptable. But to publicly display very personal information about teachers such as their name, photo and copies of their academic certificates  online is not.

Some teachers have questioned if these new rules are respecting the same rights of privacy which teachers and other professionals are morally and professionally bound to. In particular, many teachers teach Chinese students online without ever seeing the face of the students due to the beliefs of the parents. More often than not students also use ‘screen names’ when taking classes online, to overcome any privacy concerns or barriers in language translation.

China is not alone in ensuring their privacy rights are respected  by not revealing their face on camera with the teacher and this is also not uncommon in the world of online teaching  in other countries. However, many teachers are not happy about their personal information being made public by token of the same virtue. 

What is the outcome?

Quite simply – not a lot. The Chinese government have clearly stated that any online,  educational platform that does not follow these new rules will be given a small time period to amend any practices. Failing that, they will be blacklisted, fined and then will have to answer to the Chinese law.

Foreign teachers have also remarked on the time frames being reduced. Currently Chinese students take online lessons anytime between 18:00 – 22:00hrs, on weekdays and on the weekend this can be anytime, depending on the educational platform. So for many teachers, they will potentially be losing 28 hours a month, of online teaching hours, maybe more.

For many foreign teachers this is a concern as they think about how their online income will now be affected with these new rules. As of yet China has not made any declarations, alongside these rules in relation to increasing foreign teachers salaries if they hold the professional and educational qualifications.

However some foreign teachers refuse categorically  to their personal information being published online by these companies.

CAN YOU REALLY LIVE ON THE INCOME FROM 3HRS TEACHING A DAY?

Many teachers are finding that 3 hours teaching per day, online for China does not produce enough income to meet an average budget, if you live outside of China and many teachers are reporting that they are not even getting 3 hours per day in bookings.

Teach English online

Some companies like itutor Group offer more hours than other companies if you have the following:

• A degree (3 years minimum) 
• A TEFL / CELTA
• Native Speaker
• 1 years online teaching experience. 

You can apply directly here.

In addition to this many Chinese  ESL platforms have increased their recruitment in non native English speaking countries, employing more filippino workers who can accept lower wages due to their cost of living in their country. 

To improve their income,  teachers are looking to find other private students online in other countries to bridge the gap and also to prepare themselves for any further potential changes as lots of teachers have already reported a huge drop in income as hours have been reduced globally across all Chinese ESL platforms.

One solution helping lots of Teachers and Tutors is our Teacherpreneurs Membership.