News from the GEPIK front [merged]

[woman-king]

Hi gmhahn,

According to my co-teacher, people who have contracts that end on August 31st will be OK. If they don't re-hire any of the NTs whose contracts expire on the 31st then no schools would have teachers on Sept 1st. GEPIK wants all of the contract start dates to line up. So, if they didn't re-hire the teachers who finish on the 31st, they wouldn't be hiring any NTs until March 1st, which makes no sense. They can't re-hire anyone to start on a day before September 1st, that's all.

If someone's contract finishes on June 22nd and their school wants to keep them then they will have to re-sign with the start date being Sept 1st. So, that person will be out of a job for a little while. It's really silly and many schools will loose some good teachers because of that. The one's who will miss out the most will be the kids..

So could they conceivably hire someone to start, say, October 1?

[Burndog]

Hi gmhahn,

According to my co-teacher, people who have contracts that end on August 31st will be OK. If they don't re-hire any of the NTs whose contracts expire on the 31st then no schools would have teachers on Sept 1st. GEPIK wants all of the contract start dates to line up. So, if they didn't re-hire the teachers who finish on the 31st, they wouldn't be hiring any NTs until March 1st, which makes no sense. They can't re-hire anyone to start on a day before September 1st, that's all.

If someone's contract finishes on June 22nd and their school wants to keep them then they will have to re-sign with the start date being Sept 1st. So, that person will be out of a job for a little while. It's really silly and many schools will loose some good teachers because of that. The one's who will miss out the most will be the kids..

So could they conceivably hire someone to start, say, October 1?

I don't think so.  I'm pretty sure that the new system will mean that all teachers will start in September or March...the exception (potentially) being schools where the teacher is funded by City Hall...they seem to have wildly different start and end dates.

[Yu_Bumsuk]

I don't think so.  I'm pretty sure that the new system will mean that all teachers will start in September or March...the exception (potentially) being schools where the teacher is funded by City Hall...they seem to have wildly different start and end dates.

So then when they have runners or sackings they'll have to wait until the next term for fresh meat?

[jrwhite82]

A decision for renewing teachers (not receiving full funding from their city) whose contracts end after the initial hiring freeze (AKA 2nd semester, September-February) has not been made yet.  They have to let us know by July 1st at the latest, which would stay within rules of the contract that we all signed and agreed to by providing us with 60 days notice. 

[maybemaybe]

My contract isn't up until February, and while my school hasn't even mentioned any of this (at least directly) to me (which perhaps doesn't bode well, who knows?), I at least have quite a while to deal with all this.

My question is this:  My contract is up on something like February 15th, which coincides with the end of the school year.  If my school is interested in re-signing me, would it be possible to get an extension on my current visa, up to the new, synced start date of March 1st, and then renew for another year from there?

OR is there some other way to work it all out?  Particularly a way that does NOT involve getting another apostilled FBI CBC?

[misspigeon]

My contract isn't up until February, and while my school hasn't even mentioned any of this (at least directly) to me (which perhaps doesn't bode well, who knows?), I at least have quite a while to deal with all this.

My question is this:  My contract is up on something like February 15th, which coincides with the end of the school year.  If my school is interested in re-signing me, would it be possible to get an extension on my current visa, up to the new, synced start date of March 1st, and then renew for another year from there?

OR is there some other way to work it all out?  Particularly a way that does NOT involve getting another apostilled FBI CBC?

You should be able to get an extension no problem. I thought I was going to have to change schools and kind of wanted to take a bit of time off in between and everyone I talked to said that getting an extension would cover me just fine until my next contract started.

[bigkirk]

I am also interested in this. I finish in mid June and my school wants me to re-sign. Am I able to renew my e2 with the date set in the new contract as September 1st? Or will I have to be rehired by my school with new docs?

[caddycatcat]

what if the contract starts/ends after Sept?
won't that just screw up their system?

[maybemaybe]

My contract isn't up until February, and while my school hasn't even mentioned any of this (at least directly) to me (which perhaps doesn't bode well, who knows?), I at least have quite a while to deal with all this.

My question is this:  My contract is up on something like February 15th, which coincides with the end of the school year.  If my school is interested in re-signing me, would it be possible to get an extension on my current visa, up to the new, synced start date of March 1st, and then renew for another year from there?

OR is there some other way to work it all out?  Particularly a way that does NOT involve getting another apostilled FBI CBC?

You should be able to get an extension no problem. I thought I was going to have to change schools and kind of wanted to take a bit of time off in between and everyone I talked to said that getting an extension would cover me just fine until my next contract started.

고맙습니다, Miss Pigeon!

[woman-king]

Hi gmhahn,

According to my co-teacher, people who have contracts that end on August 31st will be OK. If they don't re-hire any of the NTs whose contracts expire on the 31st then no schools would have teachers on Sept 1st. GEPIK wants all of the contract start dates to line up. So, if they didn't re-hire the teachers who finish on the 31st, they wouldn't be hiring any NTs until March 1st, which makes no sense. They can't re-hire anyone to start on a day before September 1st, that's all.

If someone's contract finishes on June 22nd and their school wants to keep them then they will have to re-sign with the start date being Sept 1st. So, that person will be out of a job for a little while. It's really silly and many schools will loose some good teachers because of that. The one's who will miss out the most will be the kids..

So could they conceivably hire someone to start, say, October 1?

I don't think so.  I'm pretty sure that the new system will mean that all teachers will start in September or March...the exception (potentially) being schools where the teacher is funded by City Hall...they seem to have wildly different start and end dates.

I've been told my school is solely funded by our City Hall and I should have no worries--but of course, you never know what's going to be the last word around here.  I am in contact with a recruiter just in case.   

Do you think it would be possible to like, idk, resign 11 months into the contract and resign for September 1 if that were the case?  I suppose that could be an affective way of not having to pay for resigning bonuses or flights home . . . 

[misspigeon]

I've been told my school is solely funded by our City Hall and I should have no worries--but of course, you never know what's going to be the last word around here.  I am in contact with a recruiter just in case.   

Do you think it would be possible to like, idk, resign 11 months into the contract and resign for September 1 if that were the case?  I suppose that could be an affective way of not having to pay for resigning bonuses or flights home . . . 

I've been told the same thing but I still won't believe them until I get my new contract. Apparently, we can't renew until 1 month before our contract expires, so I'm going to spend the entirety of May asking my co-teacher if we can get the contract naaaaaooooooo.

[Burndog]

Yu Bum Suk....I don't know...BUT...the fact that there is a freeze on renewals would suggest that if someone does a runner, then the school would need to wait until September 1st to get a replacement.

As for all of the other questions people have asked...there are a few things to ponder.  Firstly, nobody can tell you what the situation will be after September 1st.  We don't know yet.  It's going to depend on decisions from above GEPIK about their funding levels for 2012.  Once they know, then they will most probably be able to make decisions about what happens next.  Having said that, I wouldn't be shocked if they didn't renew after September 1st, and instead made people wait until March 1st to renew....BUT...that's just in my head...there's nothing to say that this is how things will go down.


As for City Hall funding...it's a mixed bag!  I'm in Suwon and half of the schools around me seem to have lost their City Hall funding...so if you're a City Hall fundee...have your co contact City Hall and confirm your funding level.

Be prepared for your contract NOT to be renewed...hope for the best, but plan for the worst!  Good luck all!!!

[Yu_Bumsuk]

Yu Bum Suk....I don't know...BUT...the fact that there is a freeze on renewals would suggest that if someone does a runner, then the school would need to wait until September 1st to get a replacement.

So, if a school really wants / needs an FT the FT would have a lot more leverage if he threatened to quit. If a school really doesn't want one, however, and they can find a way to get rid of one asap that's up to six months of not having to worry about it for them.

[Rina]

Well, I would apply to Japan but you saw what happened there. I can't go. I was thinking of applying to Hong Kong even though someone told me that they might put me somewhere in China (which I highly doubt it especially if the site stated that you will be placed in one of the Hong Kong provinces ). My mentor is over in China working. She told me that I could find a job there for 6 months. But naw, nawwwwww other folks keep running to me with their negativity saying "Oh don't go to China! It's Communist!" "Oh don't go there! China is awful" How can it be any worse than Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc. Everywhere, there is something bad going on, just in worse cases than others. So I am just looking at Taiwan.

Jobs in Hong Kong are hard to get. They have more freedom than what you would think because it was a British colony and it's still a capitalist market at the end of the day. They require actual teaching degrees and years of experience.

 I know people going to teach ESL in Spain. It's not impossible.

[cruisemonkey]

According to my co-teacher, people who have contracts that end on August 31st will be OK. If they don't re-hire any of the NTs whose contracts expire on the 31st then no schools would have teachers on Sept 1st. GEPIK wants all of the contract start dates to line up. So, if they didn't re-hire the teachers who finish on the 31st, they wouldn't be hiring any NTs until March 1st, which makes no sense. They can't re-hire anyone to start on a day before September 1st, that's all.

If someone's contract finishes on June 22nd and their school wants to keep them then they will have to re-sign with the start date being Sept 1st. So, that person will be out of a job for a little while.

... except Kimmi will not extend the Period of Sojourn for the visa of anyone who's contract ends before August 31st because the contracts are not continuous. Therefore, the NET will have to leave K-land and apply for a new visa (with all that entails); and also, lose any pay level increase based on continuous service they had, or would have had. In effect, the NET will start again at 'square one'. GEPIK is just 'cleaning house'. It has nothing to do with improving anything - it's all about money!

[bigkirk]

I found out today that Ansan is cutting an extra 12 schools. 2 Elementary, 8 middle and 2 high schools.

[bigkirk]

Actually the number is 15 and strangely enough those are the schools that are under the hiring freeze. So it seems that this is not a streamline of semesters, it's a budget cut. Those schools can not apply to GEPIK for any more funding they must ask their city hall.