The International Schools Review Forum

Hi All,

There have been a lot of threads (including some I've started) that looks at the shrinking of positions available due to shrinking numbers of international students.

Earlier today I get an email from a cold-calling recruitment agency which states that schools are still looking to employ teachers (bla bla bla) and I should join their agency. It got me thinking of the flip side of what may be affecting some schools (specifically middle east schools)

What is got me thinking about is what happens to the schools who can't find qualified staff due to closed borders, staff leaving/breaking contract and a perceived significant reduction of international teachers looking for a position next year?

They'll hire locals for the year or until this blows over. Or, depending on the country and the quality of the school, TEFLers.

I concur with @marieh. They will hire sub qualified DTs/ITs or unqualified ETs, depending on whats available locally. They will juggle assignments around and put a white face with a pulse in the less critical classrooms such as primary or lower secondary and hire non-NES locals for critical subjects if they cant find an expat LH. Id ISs are opening and students are showing up, they are going to have a warm body in that classroom, preferably a white one.

As I stated in a previous post on speculation, if your mobile, and flexible, and your logistical factors are nimble for an IS, and youre not desperate, there are going to be some really good last minute opportunities to take advantage of.

China right now is the Wild West. Some of the top schools who did not require staff to comeback before the borders closed are starting to scramble.

If you are in China it is a great opportunity to move up into some of those tier one schools. If you are currently outside this probably doesn’t apply to you. Friends I know who were let go of their current school for next year, unable to move to the country of their new school or have not had their contract confirmed yet for next year have been contacted for interviews. A potential silver lining to an unfortunate situation.

I can imagine this also playing out in the ME, teachers having opportunities to shuffle up the ladder due to openings and then leaving the bottom schools with out qualified staff.

Yeah I noticed that as well. One school in Hangzhou which pays well states that only people in China need apply. I'd be interested to see how many people on Search are not actively looking for positions at the moment....

I heard a former classmate from university who is now in China got offers from multiple schools that she otherwise would not even get an interview for.
She left her current job because of how they treated staff during the outbreak, but had a very easy time landing a new job.

Troll posting removed by admin

So you have signed 6 contracts for next year. Let me guess - you also teach TOK?

37 new jobs on TIEonline in the past 7 days...

~we live in interesting times....

When people make that statement - I normally roll my eyes. But for the first time in 30 years, I think that's a fair statement.....

PsyGuy wrote:
> ~we live in interesting times....