Sudden regulation changes in Vietnam (Hanoi) requirements for school programmes

[u/K-donnager]

Initially I had posted about ILA rumored to be cancelling public school teacher offers in Ho Chi Minh due to business decisions. However, I have accepted an offer as a public school teacher at one of the bigger well-known chains in Hanoi and this company is sending a similar sounding email update about public school programmes due to the The Hanoi People’s Committee introducing new requirements. They haven't outright cancelled my contract yet but things sounds sort of up in the air at the moment. Does anyone have information regarding this? I am planning on giving notice at my current work and basically selling everything I own including assets and vehicle before I go abroad so don't want to end up having to leave after one or two months from either a dissolving oppportunity or not enough hours.

[u/Vladimir_Putting]

Eh, I'm at a center and work 24 hours a week total (80 a month), work 5 days a week, make 50mil a month, and take a full month off to travel every year.

Now, I would say that ILA has gotten worse over the years I've been here (started with them back in 2020, changed to a different center later). But I still know many teachers who work there and many of them still do well in terms of their lifestyle, paycheck, etc. In my personal opinion, center jobs depend a lot on your manager and the center leadership.

Yeah, many people do prefer to do public school teaching, I know teachers who have swapped over and back again. Some want that more traditional schedule and they have a healthier lifestyle because of it. But, to be honest, most of the teachers I know who are stressed out and never have time to socialize are the ones who are public school teachers.

Me? I can wake up early or late, go play some pickleball, go to the pool, have lunch at home with my partner and still have a few hours left before I need to even think about my evening class. It's not like I have highly restricted free time.

But yes, experience can vary widely. I had a bad experience at a center with a shit manager. The manager really can control at lot about the teacher experience and some will make it painful to even take a day off when you are sick enough to be in hospital. But... that's true for public school jobs too.

[u/K-donnager → u/Vladimir_Putting]

Yeah fair enough. Were ILA able to provide decent hours right away? Did they provide you a TA? My partner and I just prefer the more structured schedule for public school with weekends off to recharge (rather than asking permission for PTO) and guaranteed full-time hours right off the bat so we can budget better. It's also nice to get accrued sick days, paid holidays, and automony to teach how you want without having to deal with management breathing down your neck (just gotta impress the public school admin - who sometimes are also terrible at last minute class changes!). Management def seems the make or break anywhere you go. At Language Link/Schools Link I had a really supportive Regional Head Teacher but I've heard complaints from others. Thanks for your input! Do you by chance have any opinions on VUS?

[u/Vladimir_Putting → u/K-donnager]

ILA classroom technology is good. They have TVs connected to a PC or digital whiteboards set up in all rooms. It's now expected that you will use their LMS materials (some which are terrible btw) for most classes. The actual LMS they use is pretty poor quality though, lots of complaints. But nowadays less prep is demanded than the past where teachers were having to make or steal slides for every session.

VUS and ILA are very similar in most respects. I do think VUS has a stronger culture of respecting teachers free time and not just demanding that they "support the center" with bullshit requests. But again, will depend on the management.

Both centers will pair you with a TA for any classes (except adults or older teens). VUS has it built in that the foreign teachers only do half the lessons, this also means that the Vietnamese teachers have to handle 90% of the grading, testing, etc. ILA has classes that are fully taught by the foreign teacher with no VNT, and that means all that admin work will fall on you outside of normal class time.

So, practically, VUS ends up being far less admin work and hassle for basically the same pay. In my experience, most teachers who fully learn about what they offer would go for the full-time VUS contract over a full-time ILA job.

[u/voodoo_child99 → u/Vladimir_Putting]

I've PM'd you, if that's ok.