Send your letter to Ajarn.com »

The color is grey

1st April 2010

I have been teaching as a volunteer at a government run elementary school officially since last year, unofficially since two and half years. My work permission was excepted at the employment office a year ago and with a trip to Lao I got a non immigrant B visa which was extended for one year when I returned. I was told then by the admin staff at the school that I would need to do a course to get a teachers permit. What this is I don’t really know, but anyway the teacher who did this paper work for the visa extension last year retired six months ago and the new admin person who was meant to look after my paper work fell sick which kept him away from the school for two months.

Meanwhile the paperwork mounted up and my papers got forgotten. The time came for my visa to be extended and I still hadn’t done anything. So last week the immigration refused to extend my visa and I was forced to take another trip to Lao and apply for another 90 day non immigrant visa. Now that I’m back and the clock is ticking I have another problem and that it is the holiday period and the administration naturally have no interest in coming back to school to complete the work. and I’m unable to do much myself as I can’t read or speak Thai.

While I was trying my best to sort things out during the holidays I came across one of your feeds, which read; How do I stay working as a teacher here for longer than two years? I presume you are talking about the two-year waiver that the TCT (Teachers Council of Thailand) granted teachers that were not qualified enough to apply for a teachers license but could show they were making the effort to actually get qualified. Well, for many teachers - especially those who have done nothing in the past two years - the two-year period is up. In many cases though, employers have been successful in getting a second extension to the waiver agreement (or so I’m led to believe) but other employers have been knocked back and teachers now face losing their jobs.

As with so many rules and regulations in Thailand - the colour is grey!

Peter

View all Jobs »
TEFL and TESOL Training Courses
View all Resumes »
Schools that need Teachers

Ajarn Guests

Fear of change?

In Thailand the government has set 2012 as English Speaking Year with a goal of encouraging students to converse in English every Monday. Such policies are useful but the major leap of enacting legislation to make English an official language for Thailand is also needed

Software for student tests

The integration of internet and computers with education and English learning is something students find normal, and classrooms without some access to educational software may seem quaint. Some students may even feel they can get more ‘professional' teaching from the numerous online ELT sites if a school is behind in IT.

Whatever happened to the shopping mall teacher?

They are the shopping mall English teachers - gliding like pale, undernourished phantoms amid the hordes of weekend Thai shoppers. The main reason I empathize with the shopping mall teacher is because I was once one myself. I know how desperate and soul-destroying it can be.

About Ajarn.com

Ajarn.com was started as a small hobby website in 1999 by Ian McNamara. It was a simple way for one Bangkok teacher to share his Thailand experiences and pass on advice. The website developed a loyal and enthusiastic following. In 2004, Ian handed over the reins to Phil Williams and 'Bangkok Phil' has run the ajarn website ever since.

Ajarn.com has grown enormously and is now the most popular TEFL site in Thailand - possibly even South East Asia. Although best-known for its vibrant jobs page, Ajarn has a wealth of articles, blogs, features and help and advice. But one principle has always remained at Ajarn's core - to tell things like they are and to do it with a sense of humor. Thailand can be Heaven or Hell for an English teacher. It's always been Ajarn.com's duty to present both sides of the equation. Thanks for stopping by.