Think really hard before joining this really toxic organization. I wonder how they get employer of choice award?
Pros
Medical benefits ($5 co-payment) 100% free drama everyday - watch the aunties, co-teachers fight, teachers from a level fighting with other teachers from other levels, principal and dcl ganging up on teachers who they don't favour. There are freebies (often low quality) given randomly in a year as a way to show appreciation to teachers. These material stuff does not matter, along with the happy yay program as we teachers are struggling and most of us are very unhappy about our working conditions.
Cons
I don't usually post on glass door, but this company is really disastrous and I hope that people can think twice about joining this to safeguard your mental health. The pay is not great anyway despite the recent increment. If you have no other jobs that you can do, then yea, go ahead and apply. To sum up: - Going out for 1 hour lunch break is very discouraged as some of your colleagues and management will "red eye" you thinking that you are a irresponsible teacher to leave the kids behind to nap - You will have to OT every single day, on some days, teachers are working from 7am to 7pm - There is a bullying culture. Hence, as long as you are a trainee teacher, assistant teacher, relief teacher, and even adjunct teacher, be prepared to constantly take orders from everyone around you even though they are not doing much themselves. - You are NOT allowed to eat anything (even biscuits / bread) despite being extremely hungry. The only time you can eat is when the children are asleep. I wonder how are we able to care for children if our needs are not met? I have to resort to hiding in the toilet to eat. - I recently was told not to drink water because the children haven not drink yet after their outdoor play. - People do talk about you if you go toilet very often. I'm sorry that I have a weak bladder? - Management like to threaten with warning letters if they see you doing something that they don't like. To be honest, they like to drive employees with fear. Let's talk about real leadership. They are actually sitting on a decent chair in their air-conditioned office and like to come out to catch you doing something "bad". Teachers are not praised for things they do well, and rather to be told off about what they should not do instead. If you do well, is what you ought to do in their perspective. Basically, you get talked to just like another child in a classroom. - It is funny how the company talk about how well their curriculum is when most of the stuff are skunk-like. They always want to portray the perfect image to parents but internally, is really bad. I like to warn others to not be fooled by the marketing efforts of the company especially about them taking serious care of teacher's wellbeing. AVOID AT ALL COST and do not sign any bond even though is only 1 year of bond to be served, be prepared to only start studies after 5 months of settling in the centre. I have seen teachers quitting half way and have to fork out ten of thousands of cash.
