adminBeing an ESL teacher in a totally different country is hard enough. You have to adjust to a new language, culture, way of life and even new educational standards. It makes it even more difficult when schools give you an attendance bonus incentive and no paid sick days.
In my 5 years of teaching, I have only ever taken 3 sick days. (I have also never played hooky, I know I am a star employee). But being a teacher, you make a commitment to be there for your kids. This being said, teachers need to be taken care of by their school. We are not slaves to the system. I know teachers everywhere feel my pain, but to work at a place with no paid sick leave for the whole year and they deduct hundreds of dollars from you for being sick has got to stop. Teachers in Asia usually get compensated with all these additional bonuses which look nice. One of the main ones being an attendance bonus, but if you take the day off you lose your precious attendance bonus, plus the day’s pay. Which for me is about 200 USD, even with a doctor’s note. There is no fighting this as this is the unwritten rule of the system. Being a teacher is hard work for those of you who are unaware. It is physically, mentally and emotionally demanding every day. We burn out quick because we always have to be “on”. We don’t’ get down time. We have to make decisions every second that will guide a child’s life. It is so exhausting but it’s fun, its enjoyable and rewarding when they get those lightbulb moments.
Teaching in Asia has become what I am going to do as a career. Over 5 years I have worked with students aged 3-older adults. I am a dedicated teacher. I care about my job and I take it seriously. I have worked in many schools all with the same issues. The bottom line is that I am older. I need to be treated with the respect I deserve and part of that is being allowed sick leave without having such a major loss of money. I shouldn’t have to lose so much to take care of myself. I feel like many of the ESL schools treat teachers like this because people come here and take on a class but they show no kind of professionalism or responsibly to the job. They just see it as an easy way of making money and they seem to ruin it for the foreigners who are trying to make lives here. That is why attendance bonuses have to be a thing now.
I have decided for many reasons (including the one above) to go back to school to be certified as a licensed teacher. Working at these small schools that use their teachers and walk all over them is more and more numbing and frustrating. I hope that when the next year is over, I will be able to find a better opportunity that will support, encourage and at least provide some kind of sick leave/vacation days. I deserve to be treated better in my career and at my job.
*this is not everyone’s experience and not all schools are the same. Most of this is for kindergarten schools and then not all of them. This is just my experience and what I have observed.
