Guest piece- 2000 Sri Lankan English Teachers Coming to Korea??
by Anontastic
“No doubt, anyone reading the EL Gazette this month may have done a double take when looking at the front page for August 2010 – I know that I did. According to the headlines, Korea plans to recruit over 2000 new English teachers, and all from Sri Lanka. When I read that figure, I thought surely that it must have been a typo and that there was an extra zero in there somewhere, but after some quick fact checking with the (Sri Lanka) Daily News, it all appears to be true . And quite a shocking number it is. The Korean government’s own program that has been in place for many years, known as EPIK (English Program in Korea), brought in a total of 1,264 Guest English Teachers in 2009. So here’s a new move that will be nearly double that of EPIK and all with the quick wave of a pen.
Sounds almost too good to be true, but not so fast. One certainly has to wonder what all the motives might be. And why, of all places, Sri Lanka? The last time I visited (and I’ve been six times) Sri Lanka wasn’t exactly a shining example of English language communicative competence in action. So what gives? Is all this really to improve language proficiency or is it yet just another way of keeping wages forever low in the land of the morning calm (they’ve been the same in Korea for nearly 15 years now – is it ever going to change)? And what about EPIK? Is it a flop?
Part of what the ELGazette failed to report, is that many Sri Lankan teachers themselves are not very happy with the proposed venture. And why should they be? They, too, have a serious shortage of teachers and don’t want what little they’ve got exported like tea. Let alone two THOUSAND. Looks like the local teachers’ union is finally putting its foot down and expressing its opinion on the matter, and good for them. And since that’s the case, then there’s also no reason why teachers working in Korea shouldn’t have their voices heard as well. Feel free to have your say:
Ambassador Choi Ki-Chul
Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri-Lanka
98 Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 7
Sri Lanka
Phone: +(94) (11) 2699036-8
Fax: +(94) (11) 2672358, 2696699
E-Mail: korembsl@mofat.go.kr
Website: http://lka.mofat.go.kr/eng/as/lka/main/index.jsp”
Many thanks to Anontastic- always nice to get ahead of the EL Gazette!
My eyes did pop out a little at that one myself, but as is my wont I then thought no more about it. I always assume these deals are in exchange for Korean companies getting construction deals etc in the other country, in a similar way to the Japanese giving Iranians working visas in exchange for a regular supply of oil in the 70s. Anyone else got any pet theories or other thoughts?
For a rather over the top criticism of another EL Gazette story, see this story on Marxist TEFL.
August 12th, 2010 at 12:05 am
Saw this in ELG as well and did a double take.
The idea of allowing Indian and Philippino teachers to work in Korea has been discussed a lot over the past couple of years, but the reaction from within Korea has been very negative. So why now SRI LANKA (and only Sri Lanka), and why so many?
I have a feeling that this is definitely a side dish in some sort of major trade deal. And I think these teachers are going to be given wages that are much lower than current EPIK teachers (but no doubt significantly higher than what teachers would earn locally in Sri Lanka) – which lets some bigwigs in Korea’s MOE present an impressive balance sheet to budget pen-pushers.
I have real concerns. Korean students and parents generally have a pretty appalling attitude to South Asians. These teachers are going to have a real challenge being accepted into the cultural climate of Korean public schools.
But if this does go ahead, there are going to be some major ripples with the existing NESTs teaching in this sector. 2000 placements makes a huge dent in the available teaching positions – get ready to hear some serious wailing over on Dave’s ESL cafe forums…
August 12th, 2010 at 4:54 am
Has the Sri Lanka story been reported in the Korea media? Korea Herald, Korea Times, Chosun Ilbo?
I think that all of this is going to have the opposite effect and actually increase the shortage of Korean English teachers in the long run. If I was new Korean teacher of English struggling to get by on a salary that hasn’t been increased much in 15 years, I think that I would consider quitting after this deal. What incentives to good Korean teachers have to stay in teaching any more? That article mentions setting up a teacher training facility in Sri Lanka? Well, how about more training for Koreans in Korea? I think that this is all a big bomb just waiting to explode…
August 12th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Takes me three days to find time to read a whole copy of IHT, so might’ve missed it
August 12th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Just searched the topic, and Anontastic is right about the Koreans being up in arms, as well as the standard of English in Sri Lanka…
August 12th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Here’s a suggestion. First, Korea sets up a new school in Sri Lanka for training Korean ambassadors. Then roll back the pay rates for being an ambassador back to their 1995 rates. Then train Sri Lankans to become Korean ambassadors and after they do, lower their pay another 20% or so. Sound good? Hahaha… Sounds crazy, right? Well, that’s basically what they’ve done to ELT in Korea. What’s next? 8,000 Sri Lankan English teachers for Japan?
Alex, I would love to read the local response to any of this. I’ve got any links to stories in the local press, please post them.
August 13th, 2010 at 2:14 am
Here’s one possible reason why it happened:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2008/03/139_20829.html
August 13th, 2010 at 10:01 am
Ah! As they say in Korea – Ding dong dang!
August 14th, 2010 at 2:56 am
Alex,
I know the people at EPIK well and will be bringing my dog and pony show to them next week. I’ll get some comments and report.
However, I don’t see it happening at the end of the day. Or if it does, like Eng.Rav says, won’t wash well or last.
I also don’t see how they will get 2,000 Sri Lankan English teachers who will want to come to Korea. That’s an important point. Politicians and policy wonks/wanks put up these numbers as policy “dressing” and to feed their own positions/budgets. Reality is another matter. The 2,000 referred to are well educated teachers with options of teaching not just in Korea but also Britain and abroad. They are certified and with status in Sri Lanka. Won’t happen…
But an important issue and glad you brought it to our attention.
David
August 14th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Thanks David, would love to hear it if you can get any inside scoop
August 15th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Could be that Korea wants a piece of the action out of Sri Lanka’s brand new seaport:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10979395
August 16th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Should be ready to join this list soon:
http://sixthings.net/2009/05/21/six-rumours-and-conspiracy-theories-in-elt/
August 16th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Hahaha! Absolutely right, and my last comment is pure speculation! BTW, #5 on the Six Things Conspiracy List is not a conspiracy at all. Both TESOL (USA) and KOTESOL have active Christian SIG groups. I’ve also have met at least two teachers who were fired for spreading the gospel while working in Middle Eastern countries.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:22 am
I’ve fired a teacher for continually preaching in class (after repeated complaints from 8 and 9 year olds, then written warnings, including one related to an incident where she harrassed another teacher on his day off to go to church with her, even offering to buy him a bicycle so that he could ride there with her), amongst other things (like a complete inability to teach anything coherently, and insanity).
One of the sadder chapters to appear in my “Complete Confessions of a TEFLer”…
August 17th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Here’s a story that clearly debunks #5 as being a myth:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/south-korea/100517/mormon-missionaries-seoul-teach-english
If you ask me, this is crossing some ethical boundaries.
Note to Alex: you might want to move these last three posts to a new place, as we seem to have somehow started a new thread…