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Teaching in China Part 2

Last time I told you about some of the things you should know before coming to China. Iwant to continue with this just for a little bit.You should have medical insurance, but in the event that you do not, and you get ill whileteaching you should know that the school is responsible for paying you 50% of the cost.Anything that is offered to a Chinese teacher must include you as well; it is in Chineselaw listed with their government offices. Sometimes the school will not tell you thesethings, so I suggest you look for some Chinese websites, do a search, to read up on it all.Still, if you do get ill, the hospitals are not so bad, just very crowded, and it is best to findthe main hospital because they are more likely to have English speakers.A few other things you should know, in reference to things the Chinese teachers are givenand you should be given as well. During the Spring Festival, they get travel pay, soshould you, normally this is around 1200 RMB, please ask about this because if youdon’t get this, it will go somewhere or to someone. This applies if you have a 12-monthcontract, and you should also get travel pay during the summer break.Most schools will offer to reimburse your flight to China, again check the amount and doa conversion in your currency to see if it is an acceptable amount. Normally if you havea 12-month contract, I would say request this reimbursement after your first semester teaching. If you have a 6-month contract or less, I would suggest that you get their agreement to reimburse you upon arrival. I say this because on more then one-occasionteachers have been given the run-around and never get that reimbursement. Not allschools are this unscrupulous, but it is not uncommon to run into this p[problem. Onefriend could not get her travel reimbursement because she refused to sign for another year with the school, even though she had fulfilled the original contract. The problem is thatyou really have no place to go to make a complaint, there are really no laws or legislationto protect your interests.Ok, let’s get back to issues before you accept a job. If you take a job, you should havethe work visa before you come. Some schools will tell you it is okay to come on a visitor visa then change, this isn’t true, and you are told this when schools cannot actually getthe visa for some reason. Some schools do not have the authority to obtain your visa, or they are not approved by the Chinese official department. So, what do they do? Well,some rely on their relationships with friends who work at other schools. For example,language school A cannot get the visa, but they have a friend at University B who willapply for a visa for the teacher at school A. The other way that some schools get teachersis the method used in part 1, they ask the University or other school to loan them theteacher for a class or two during the week. They pay school A for the teacher, school Aloans you out as part of the contractual hours, but gives you none of the money they havecollected from school B. Get it?1

So, in the event that you believe someone, and actually go to China without the work visado not be surprised when they tell you that you must make a trip to HK (at your ownexpense) and await the visa….so out of the country, apply for the visa, then once youhave it come back in. China has changed their rules, they no longer want people to comeon a tourist visa and then change it while inside the country. Also, please note that youwill be the one paying for all of this.Passports, Teacher Visa or Certification Cards. Even if you have the working visa, youmust get the Certificate Card (it looks like a passport book). Normally the school takesyour passport and relevant documents to the main Province office to get this, and you willgo to the local Police station to get other ‘stamps’. It is common for them to have your passport for a week maybe two, but never let them keep it. Do not let your school or anyone else keep your passport, if they give you some excuse, and a month goes by youneed to ask questions and find out where it is. If you have not been given the Teacher Visa/Certificate, ask the school why. You must have this to teach legally in China, andthe schools know this. If the school cannot or does not get this for you, then something isnot right. Again, if you are new, find other Foreign teachers to ask them what to do.You must also have a physical, it is a simple physical, nothing extreme but you shouldnegotiate with your school that this expense is theirs, not yours. A lot of schools just takeit out of your salary without your permission, so get all of this in the contract. The pointis, why should you pay for a physical, which is mandatory to teach, when they want youto teach for them…..they should pay this.You do have to have this, they check to see if you have any diseases or major illness.Even if you had a physical in your country they will still put you through this. Now, moving on to other issues to be aware of. Salary or wages. You normally get paidonce a month, sometimes you can negotiate being paid every 2 weeks, but negotiate thisand get it in the contract. Many schools offer housing on campus, usually this is a privateflat, but it depends on availability. Most language schools, primary schools offer housingallowance. Try to find out the average cost of a 1 bedroom flat in the area you aremoving to before you accept the amount they offer, it should be sufficient to cover therent and help pay the bills. Ask the school if they pay any of the bills, both for housingthey offer or if they give you housing allowance. Sometimes even if you have a flat oncampus you end up paying some of the bills…..silly right? You need to ask, again getdetails in your contract.If you are given housing allowance, ask if they help you find the apartment. You cannotlegally sign a contract to rent a flat, a Chinese person must sign. Now for even morestrange information. Keep in mind that the minute the owner knows a Foreigner wants torent, a few things can happen. First, they will want you to pay a year in advance. Thenthey will ask for an unreasonable amount for deposit, in the event that the year rentaladvance wasn’t unreasonable enough. Please do not give them that much money. Refuseto give a year of rental, if the owner will not negotiate then you need to find another flat.2