A foreign backpacker visiting Thailand volunteer at Volunthai (Volunteers for Thailand), a non-governmental organisation organising English camps for children in rural areas. — YINGYONG UN-ANONGRAK

Tasks of hiring foreigners
to teach English not easy

Applications procedures should be reviewed
to ensure schools are hiring the right teacher for the right job

Finding a qualified teacher

Officially, the minimum requirements needed to work as an English teacher in Thailand are a Bachelor's degree and a teaching certificate. In some cases, teachers may have to obtain a teaching license from the Teachers Council of Thailand as well. With these qualifications a visa and work permit are obtainable.

However, this is not always the case. There are many teachers who do not hold these qualifications but still find jobs in Thailand. Schools may knowingly hire unqualified persons to fill a vacancy or accidentally give jobs to individuals who have provided fake documentation.

On the one hand, you have teachers who are qualified that consider themselves professionals. They do not like the idea of unqualified individuals being paid the same as themselves. On the other hand, since Thailand does have a teacher shortage, especially at Prathom level, unqualified teachers may still contribute a useful service to schools.

Getting your money's worth

Small sized schools are always on the look out for native speakers. Unfortunately, the small salaries that they can afford often keep highly qualified teachers away. The going rate in northeast Thailand is as low as 10,000 baht a month plus accommodation, so schools may overlook a foreigner's credentials and personal background in order to fill a vacant teaching position.

I am constantly asked if I can recruit teachers for small schools. There is little money to be made at government school, so it is no surprise that nearly all the foreigners at my university have a second source of income.

In contrast, there are private and independent schools that pay a more hefty salary. These schools can afford to be more selective by screening applicants before they receive their work permits and visas. That is not to say that a bad apple could not slip through the net, but simply that higher salaries can attract candidates with higher qualifications, while giving schools more choices during the selection process.

Using common sense when hiring

The checking of degrees and teaching certificates could be done before an interview takes place, so that less desirable candidates can be eliminated. References should also be checked; however, this is a time consuming process and some potential teachers will get discouraged with a long waiting period. The might accept a job offer at another school in the meantime, thus the school would lose a sorely needed teacher.

The job interview is also a means to filter out inappropriate teachers. Therefore, the interview should be a professional affair for asking questions that will test the candidate's English skills accordingly. Training needs to be undertaken if these skills are not already mastered properly.

The visa application is probably the most important part of the hiring process, so this should involve a background check to ensure that an individual doesn't have a criminal record.

If all this were to happen, it would save money for the smaller schools. They would spend less time and money replacing problematic teachers, while finding and possibly retaining teachers with credentials. I believe that many more students would benefit.

Steve Graham is an English language teacher at the Language Center, Udon Thani Rajabhat University in northeast Thailand. If there are any comments or areas for debate that you would like to discuss, you can contact Steve at: shed_chelsea@hotmail.co.uk .