Foreign Teachers in China May Be Permitted to Take Part-Time Jobs

Foreign Teachers in China May Be Permitted to Take Part-Time Jobs
Aug 27, 2020 By eChinacities.com

Foreign teachers in China will be able to take on part-time work if new draft measures formulated by the government are approved. Hired in China reports that China’s Ministry of Education, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Science and Technology, are working together to improve the current system and help foreign teachers in China legalize their side hustles.

foreign teachers in China
Source: Gabe Pierce 

In a statement at the end of last month, the Ministry of Education announced that foreign teachers seeking additional part-time employment outside of the company for which their visa is attached can do so as long as the arrangement is agreed upon with both employers.

Under the draft regulations, an agreement between the teacher, their main employer and the part-time employer must be signed and submitted to the Exit and Entry Administration Department in order to legalize the arrangement. It seems new teachers will not be able to take on extra work during their probation period, however, and the number of hours worked at the part time job also cannot exceed the number of hours they are contracted for with their original employer.

Many foreign teachers in China take on part-time jobs as a way to earn some extra cash under the table. Although a violation of visa law, such practices are so common that the government is keen to get part-time teaching jobs on the books and therefore taxed accordingly.

Meanwhile, tougher regulations may be in store for foreign teachers in China in general. Under more new proposals put forward by the above mention ministries, teachers could be fired for “words and deeds” that are deemed to damage China’s sovereignty.

The Education Administrative Department of State Council is also keen to launch an information platform that will establish a credit system for foreign teachers. Under the proposed system, educational institutions would be asked to provide reports on their teachers to the Ministry of Education, with any bad behavior required by law to be recorded. Examples of bad behavior laid out in the draft includes serious academic misconduct, accepting unauthorized work outside of the school, or quitting without notice before the employment contract has expired.

Expats deemed to be “excellent” teachers will be awarded points, while those that fall out of favor may find themselves on a list of prohibited teachers. Accredited education institutions will be able to look up the score of any registered foreign teacher in China using their unique credit number, meaning those who fail to accumulate points could struggle to gain employment.

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Keywords: foreign teachers in China

10 Comments

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Dandman

I have no problem with the credit system if it works fairly, my only concern would be if institutions could lie about events to malign people. I would think the Chinese government would likely investigate any allegations made to ensure the truth of the situation.

Oct 07, 2020 22:11 Report Abuse

andybrocks2012

agree

Sep 23, 2020 10:35 Report Abuse

tjh14

Most every teacher I know has been cheated at least once in China by an unscrupulous school. For example, at the end of the contract my friend's school shorted him money because he was leaving. So he stood outside the school entrance, telling all the incoming students about it. Within an hour, the boss came running downstairs with the cash. Under this new system the boss would get to tell lies about the teacher as revenge even though he was the culprit.

Sep 03, 2020 08:20 Report Abuse

sorrel

Yay - i was censored !!

Sep 01, 2020 17:23 Report Abuse

andybrocks2012

seems like a good idea if teachers get to appeal any decisons

Sep 01, 2020 13:05 Report Abuse

Guest14168468

The problem with this system, is that it is ONE-SIDED to absolutely barbaric proportions! ... It's as simple as ANY school, ESL centre (whatever) having some vindictive streak (of course, this NEVER happens in China), and saying a bunch of untruths, that THEN get put on the Department of Labour national computer system... There's no defense, no hearing, no trial... ZERO... What a wonderful system of equality!

Aug 30, 2020 19:11 Report Abuse

andybrocks2012

they havent statrted it yet

Sep 10, 2020 10:59 Report Abuse

Stason456

As I know, already applied in Zhejiang province

Aug 28, 2020 23:48 Report Abuse

ambivalentmace

Supply and demand, plain and simple, along with a little Karma for good measure.

Aug 28, 2020 07:02 Report Abuse