Last Sunday, the Beijing government issued a new decree that will see foreign teachers required to have teaching qualifications either Chinese or international and have a minimum of five years work experience for non-language subjects according to a report by China Daily. This will affect all schools international, local and bilingual.
Foreign workers to be employed after Oct 3 to teach languages in pre-primary education institutes, schools and private education institutes should have Chinese teacher certificates or International language teaching qualifications, include Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), and The Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT).
Those who teach disciplines other than language studies should have at least five years of related working experience.
Teachers are not the only ones who face tougher visa requirements as the new regulations that come in to effect from October 3 affects the technology industry as technical qualifications will be assessed. The Chinese police teams up with Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Foreign affairs office of Beijing and Beijing Municipal Commission of Education officials to check the documents sent over.
If a candidate does not meet the requirements, they will be deported then the employer and agencies involved in the hiring process will be subject to prosecution.
This week a South China Morning Post reporter went undercover as a teacher and was able to get hired to teach pre-schoolers without the school having to do a background check. This report still highlights the one question about newly crafted decrees; how will the relevant government enforce the new rules? Read the full report here.
Photos: ilmicrofono.oggiono (Flickr)
