No, not moving up tiers, just moving to another school with the same curriculum, so the job's exactly the same.

I figure in order to move from here we need to either move to a better country or a better school. One of these has to improve. This would be a move up in country. The school we're at is fine and the one we'll probably be going to sounds just about the same.

I'm in my second year of international teaching (and only did substitute work at home before coming our here). My wife worked the 2011-2012 school year, but is on maternity leave for this school year. So, by June next year I'll have two years full time teaching she'll have one. Our references should be pretty good.

We are likely to be offered positions in a country where our quality of life will be much better. The package is pretty much the same as where we are now, but travel options will be much improved, as would local opportunities.

We are debating whether we should stay where we are for the 2013-2014 school year, giving us three years and two years experience or whether to take this potential offer, leaving our school with two years and one year experience. We are wondering what the effect of my wife having only worked one year for a school will have on our employment prospects down the line.

Our thoughts are, we think leaving here with three and two years experience (staying an extra year) will look better on our resumes and allow us to go to Search Associates in London in 2014. The flipside is, we'd quite like to take these positions, so we can improve the overall quality of our lives sooner (we are a famiy of four).

Thoughts?

In Canada (in British Columbia at least) a teaching certificate is granted after a one year B.Ed., by which I mean, a year that starts on Sept 1st and ends on August 31st and includes a three month practicum.

You can't be considered for a B.Ed. unless you have a four year bachelors. I believe in the UK most first degrees are three years plus a year for a PGCE. You're not allowed in a classroom in BC until you've done at least five years at uni.

To do a Masters, I'd be looking at at least another year at school and probably two, making six years minimum.

[quote="PsyGuy"]
You can bank a lot at any elite school, that's disingenuous to use that example as the standard comparison. When you rank order a list of anything some one has to be on the bottom.[/quote]

I, personally, would rather have specifics of schools from someone that lives or has lived there than sweeping statements like, "Taiwan: Schools here dont pay as well as China, and in my experience they have this belief that since they are NOT China, teachers should accept less as a premium", which is your usual generic fluff.

What is your experience of Taiwan, out of interest?

I just had a look back at another thread that PsyGuy responded to http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... php?t=2428 . I don't believe he has ever been to or had any contact with this school, although he may have been to Phuket on vacation, yet he sewed together a bunch of generic comments about 2nd tier schools and Phuket to make it sound like he had inside information. This kind of thing is damaging to this forum and reduces its legitimacy.

[quote="PsyGuy"] its not an international schools, its a British school, unlike the other schools that are international schools with British traditions and environment.[/quote]
Really? It's not an international school? International schools use the curriculum of a western country. It may stick to the functions or practices of the home country more rigidly (if indeed it does), but it is still an international school.

I work for a Canadian International School. We use the curriculum of a particular province and follow it as we would in province. All teachers have to not only be Canadian certified, but also certified in that one particular province. Does that mean i don't work at an international school? Hmm, nobody has ever suggested that before.

I'm not from the US, so what you have just described would never have occurred to me and is quite frightening to a non-US citizen. I feel for you. There is something to be said for universal healthcare.

Perhaps you need to photograph your stuff and show the school.

I shipped 3cbm from Vancouver to London last year and it cost me less than $1200. Mind you, I packed the boxes and stacked the pallet myself.

If you say you have 1cbm of stuff and they are saying it's 5cbm, then something is not right, particularly if they are charging you $1400 for the extra 1.5cbm.

Having someone come and pack your stuff for you is expensive and they like to pack things individually (where I stuff every hole and fill every space). But even then, it seems unlikely you could turn 1cbm into 5cbm.

Are ECE posts paid the same as K-12 positions? I've often wondered about this. I assumed they weren't.

Better than being an American in Denmark, apparently.

You don't have online / telephone banking and multiple atm choices plus easy transfer options? Hard to believe in western Europe, particularly the northern bit (I'm northern European, by the way).

I'm assuming most of the major schools in Cairo use Barclays and HSBC, so I think I'm pretty much giving an overview of the situation in Cairo, bearing in mind I live 25km out of Cairo and 30km from Maadi, the expat centre. Given Stellalocal's name, I'm assuming he's in Egypt too. His experiences parallel mine.

Did you have time to set up a bank account in your short time in Egypt? Or just enough time to collect your first pay cheque in cash before heading to the airport?

I may or may not be right about HSBC branches, but to be honest, it's a bit of a moot point. I have an HSBC atm 400m meters from where I live (and I live a long way from central Cairo) and five other atms I could use 200m from my house (mostly local banks). There is a branch of HSBC near my school, which I've only had cause to use once in a year.

With reciprocal arrangements between banks, online banking and transfers and telephone banking, having a branch nearby is not that big of a priority, in fact, if i can avoid going to a physical bank altogether, all the better.

In what way would it disagree with HSBCs Published info? This is what I've got. Sounds the same to me.
http://www.hsbc.com.eg/1/2/ALL_SITE_PAG ... gs-account

I've had bank accounts with Bangkok Bank, Sanwa in Japan and Shinwa in Taiwan. I've found HSBC to be the most convenient and I like that it is international. The three 'local' banks above don't have any branches overseas as far as I know.

HSBC branches in Cairo are for anyone who has an account with them.
Everything I've described was with a standard savings account. No monthly fee.

There are enough ATMs and I can use another banks ATM if I can't find an HSBC one. I don't have a premier account and don't need one.

I have a six digit pin. Entering a pin is pretty much universal in the UK and Canada now, but when I use my Egyptian card it just asks me to sign.

It works for me.

I'm in Cairo. I have an Egyptian HSBC US dollar savings account with a visa debit card. I do all my banking and transfers online, no problem. I transfer money to the UK and Canada fairly regularly.

The US / Canadian dollars have been near parity for a while. I bought a book for CAD$11.50 yesterday (in Vancouver) with my visa debit and it showed up in my Egyptian account almost immediately as US$11.53. I'm ok with that.

I hear an echo...........

I'm sure I posted a longer thread than the one above last night, but it appears not to be there.

Check that the online PGCEs are valid in the UK. Some are, some aren't. Some are designed for those overseas and not valid in the UK (university money grab). Don't just rely on the university to give you that information.

Secondy, if your wife is intending to teach in the UK eventually, then she will have to complete her NQT year (if she doesn't want to do that, then it'd be a waste of time), otherwise she'll be stuck on the bottom rung of the payscale when she gets home. COBIS schools (Council of British International Schools) can now facility this year, so when considering where to apply (this starts in Sept 2012), these schools may be advantageous.