TEFL College worldwide closes it's doors

A few weeks ago we reported on the fate of a notorious Bangkok TEFL school known as ELT communications or simply English plus, This organization was run by a man called Mr Manoch. Unfortunately for kun M his business is no longer. A victim of the recession or simply just went bust? Who really knows at this stage.

Can't be contacted!

Well it looks like lightning has struck in the same place twice. His sister company TEFL college worldwide seems to be no longer as well! The website is down and Mr M can't be contacted. Just surf on over to the site and your faced with an empty domain.

TEFL college worldwide TEFL certificates?

Tefl college worldwide was set up at the end of 2003 with the aim to be an effective teacher training program. I really don't understand where the "worldwide bit came from" I believe that the only schools offering this course were located in Bangkok. Still the course had many graduates. However the big question on peoples minds now might be, are these certificates worth anything at all?

I mean at the time it was said that maybe these certificates weren't accredited although the company in it's writings always like to make the point that they were. However they would wouldn't they?

Whatever the facts may or may not be, what still stands is this, are the tefl certificates that were issued by the TEFL college worldwide actually recognized in ELT circles? Or are they no more than expensive pieces of toilet roll?

Native English speakers being replaced by cheaper Indians & Filipinos

The world economic recession and the slow down of many of the worlds economies has forced lots of industries & businesses to shed jobs / workers. This we are all very painfully aware of, or at least should be!

The Thai esl teaching profession has also be hit by a slow down in job vacancies. At one time if you came to Thailand and had a white face and spoke English you'd certainly have no worries finding esl employment as an English teacher. The list of places where you could ply your trade was virtually endless, it seemed like schools were crying out for teachers, this was true and is still true now up to a certain degree.

So has the tefl teaching bubble burst? According to varies sources around the net, there has been quite a marked slowdown in esl teacher employment in Thailand. There have even been rumours that certain schools in the government sector were seriously not thinking of extending their foreign teachers contracts after they had run out. This is a grim situation especially for workers in the government sector. It was always thought that most government positions were immune to cut backs, especially in education.

Given the above, what is the solution to this dilemma? Well the Thais were always proud to employ white skinned native speaking English teachers when ever they could get them. However these teachers came at a price!

Some agencies & language schools both in the government sector and the private sector have had to tighten their purse strings. So they have come up with what they think maybe be a good fix.

Hire Filipinos and Indians!

Why?

A few reasons...

*They will work for a lot less.

*They will work harder and will tend to do more than is expected of them.

*They have a similar attitude towards work as their hosts.

*A lot are desperate to keep their jobs and will do anything to keep them.

*Most Filipinos & Indians speak good English and are quite good at grammar.

*Most Filipinos & Indians come with degrees.

*They tend not to moan about pay and conditions like their foreign counterparts.



What's not so cool about them in the eyes of their employers and the Thais...


*Some speak with heavy accents.

*Don't always use correct grammar when speaking.

*Have dark skin.

* Poor substandard paperwork & qualifications.


So it looks like the Indian & Filipino teachers are here to give the native English speakers a good run for their money in Thailand's ESL teaching game!