Archive for the ‘Dodgy TEFL courses’ Category

I should perhaps start by pointing out again that although most of the stuff on this blog is trivial at best and I am not very good at sticking at something until it gets done, I am totally serious this time about helping set up something that can help change TEFL everywhere, and I’m willing to put a fair bit of cash into whatever ideas do happen. So here goes with idea number two:

The TEFL Legal Fund

If investigative journalism isn’t going to sort out dodgy TEFL courses, false advertising, borderline criminal school owners etc, then the only thing that can possibly save us is the courts. And if we are going to take them to court, we are going to need cash. The cash could come from anyone who would donate- people who wish there had been such a fund when they were in trouble, schools who do things right and so have nothing to lose, TEFL teachers who have won their cases, lottery winners… A group of volunteers, preferably connected to an existing body like IATEL, would then decide where the money would go each year. There would be a set maximum number of cases they could donate to each year, and a set total percentage of the money they could spend each year and on each case. Criteria for choosing which cases to pursue would include:

- Teachers having already started the process on their own

- The chance to give an example to the whole industry

- Tackling habitual offenders

And lots of other things which I can’t think of at the moment.

So, any thoughts? Like this better than Idea One- the prize for TEFL journalism? Any other ideas for criteria for the cases chosen? Any other proposals that are more worthwhile? Want to pledge some money to the cause already? Press the comments button and let us know: