Be wary of 'can you start on Monday?'

Be wary of 'can you start on Monday?'

I remember being a 16 year old in Scotland looking for work during the summer. I walked past a building site and asked if they needed any labourers. The guy looked me up and down and asked me if I was reliable...... I got the job.

"Can you start on Monday?" is what I'd expect someone looking for a labourer or kitchen hand to say. There are zero qualifications needed and you can't really do much damage. If you're crap, you're out on your ear by the end of the day, but there's no real risk taken by the employer.

"Can you start on Monday?" isn't something you should be hearing from a school, or any place, where your job is to take care of 'children'. If you have someone start off so quickly without doing at least some basic checks, you're putting those children's safety at risk. If my Thai wife knew that we were sending our daughter to a school who weren't doing a police-check on their teachers, our daughter would be pulled out quicker than you can say, "gross negligence". Yes, we can afford to send our kid to a good school, but that still doesn't make it okay or justifiable for others to be doing this.

If schools here don't mind employing any Tom, Dick or Harry who applies, that's up to them. I won't actively protest it. But dear God, don't celebrate it. It's up to schools how to run and manage themselves, but if you're employing random people without due diligence, you are putting children's safety and well-being at risk. That's a fact.

Celebrating (please note that this word has more than more definition) someone's right to put a child at risk because, "that's how they do it" isn't being open-minded and adaptable. It's actually looking down your nose at the local culture. Or to articulate it better, "it's the soft bigotry of low expectation".

John


Read more letters

Send your letter to Ajarn.com



Featured Jobs

NES English Teacher

฿60,000+ / month

Pathum Thani


Filipino Kindergarten English Teachers

฿20,500+ / month

Chon Buri


Primary ESL Teacher

฿50,000+ / month

Bangkok


NES Kindergarten Teacher

฿45,000+ / month

Bangkok


English, Science, and Math Teachers

฿42,300+ / month

Thailand


Elementary Computer Science Teacher

฿50,000+ / month

Chiang Rai


Featured Teachers

  • Jobelie


    Filipino, 25 years old. Currently living in Philippines

  • Cecil


    French, 42 years old. Currently living in Thailand

  • Jennifer


    Filipino, 39 years old. Currently living in Thailand

  • Khaung


    Myanmarese, 23 years old. Currently living in Thailand

  • Nico


    Filipino, 25 years old. Currently living in Philippines

  • Lyr


    Filipino, 31 years old. Currently living in Thailand

The Hot Spot


The region guides

The region guides

Fancy working in Thailand but not in Bangkok? Our region guides are written by teachers who actually live and work in the provinces.


Contributions welcome

Contributions welcome

If you like visiting ajarn.com and reading the content, why not get involved yourself and keep us up to date?


My Bangkok suburb

My Bangkok suburb

Overviews for different areas and suburbs of Bangkok, written with the help of teachers who live there. Let us help you find the perfect Bangkok neighborhood for your lifestyle.


Air your views

Air your views

Got something to say on the topic of teaching, working or living in Thailand? The Ajarn Postbox is the place. Send us your letters!


The cost of living

The cost of living

How much money does a teacher need to earn in order to live in Thailand? We survey various teachers earning different salaries and with different lifestyles.