EPIK - it really is run by a government

so this week Geoff and I decided to talk to a recruiter for EPIK. EPIK is the system that places teachers in public schools throughout Korea, and it has the same processes as the hagwan's and universities...... except that it's run by Civil servants who get paid no matter how lazy they are.

The system is in theory the same. Jump through the many hoops of gettinga  Korean E2 visa, then work at the school. However, once you are her ethere SHOULD be no problem extending or renewing a contract, especially as my criminal check is still valid and by degree has been verified in Korea. Hagwan's just want a signed contract, uni's are the same. EPIK on the other hand, wants me to start the process again, from scratch. This includes:

-getting a photocopy of your original degree verified by a notary public
-a national criminal background check
-two transcripts
-2 passport photo's
-your passport
-letters of reference from your previous hagwans

send them to the Korean consulate in Vancouver and we'll organise a formal interview in May for a position..... but we can't promise you it will be in Daegu.

Did I mention I currently live in Korea?

SOOOOOO. What they want is for me to organise everything that needs to be done in Canada from Korea and send it to Canada, from Korea, so that the Korean consulate in Canada can give me permission to come to Korea (sending my passport through the mail while I'm OUTSIDE would also be an interesting idea). They also refuse to guarantee me a placement in Daegu, despite my grade 1 salary being dependent upon me doing an MA, which I plan to do at Keimyung University..... in Daegu. While I would "most likely" get Daegu I would know for sure until AUGUST 20th.

The really sad thing is that many qualified teachers will lose out on teaching kids in the public schools and they will lose out on qualified teachers (esp. those who's parents don't have the money to send them to hagwan and thus will never have any other contact with native speakers) simply because of these hoops. I mean, I know people who are married and own apartments here with Masters in various teaching related subjects who aren't prepared to uproot their entire lives to go...... who knows? and so will stay at hagwans until they can get a uni job or else they will go home.

On the plus side, I am happy to see the Korean educational bureaucracy is as inefficient and unplanned as their western counterparts.