Sorry, Turnoi for not replying to any of the points you brought up in your last post. I hope you'll excuse me on the grounds that it's high time to 'name and shame' the thieving school that is the subject of this thread for the sake of unsuspecting newbies who might accept employment there in good faith, later to be screwed over. As if there hasn't already been enough damming evidence posted here against Majie High School, here's another relevant piece that is still viewable on Daveseslcafe -

Author
julian.teacher

Joined: 04 May 2009
Posts: 3

Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 6:19 am Post subject: Majie High School in Hejiang, Luzhou, Sichuan
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I taught Grade 7 and Grade 11 at Ma Jie High School from February 2009 until early April 2009. I had to quit the job and return to my country for health reasons.

About the school and the place: Majie High School is located in Hejiang, a cheap town in the rural Luzhou area. There is no English spoken in Hejiang. The school hires two foreign teachers each semester, the only foreigners in town. The students are very excited to have foreign teachers, however, the general level of English is very low. There are 70 students in each classroom which is not the best condition for an Oral English class. Still, these are not reasons to blacklist a school. Whenever I faced difficulties in teaching I saw it as a challenge and the school let me do as I pleased.

The reason why I blacklist Ma Jie Middle School are withholding pay and threatening and pressuring me to stay. I also don't think that the school contact person is very sensible when dealing with people and conflicts.

I quit my job on April 1st, right before I should have gotten my March salary (5000 RMB).
The school did not accept the reason why I quit, withheld the March pay and accused me for breaking the contract. Either way, there'd be no legal basis to withhold money, because the contract terms we agreed on don't include a breach penalty for the teacher.

' If the teacher does not have a proper reason to terminate the contract he will not receive the completion bonus '

About the completion bonus: ' The school grants a completion bonus of RMB 5500. The completion bonus shall be paid before the end of the semester '

Then they showed me a contract I never signed and tried to punish me for something I never did.

1)I did not break the contract. I left because of a serious psychological condition. You don't have to be an expert to say that it is dangerous to be abroad with this condition. I emailed them a psychological report subsequently.
2)I never signed the contract they tried to threaten me with. What I am talking about is the standardized contract for foreign experts. I did not sign this because I was not hired on a working visa. The contract my employment was based on has a completion bonus instead of a breach penalty. However, they wouldn't pay me for the month I had already worked for and they even came up with empty threats that they'd call the police because of my F-visa-status.

I am aware of the fact that the school contact person has to employ white faces, and that me quitting conflicted with this duty. However, in this case the contact person did not react rationally or cooperative.
Not returning phone calls or text messages, postponing appointments and rushing away from me in the corridor did not give me the chance to reply to their threats.
Furthermore, the contact person did not react sensible to my psychological condition. I don't think he is very sensible when dealing with people at all. When the other foreign teacher told him he had cancer the only thought the contact expressed was that he feared he might loose a foreigner.

Within the next days they increased the pressure by telling everybody that I am causing trouble and that I am trying to leave. They even got the other foreign teacher involved and set up a dinner with students to lure me to stay. I feel sorry for everyone who was made to be involved.

I even offered the school to take photos for advertisements to make the best of the situation but they would not accept the offer. Then I told them that it is my duty as a member of the foreign teacher community to blacklist a school that withholds pay. After that they gave me 2000 of the 5000 RMB and said 3000 were for 'punishment and advertisement fees'.

I generally advise every foreign teacher not to sign a contract that includes a breach penalty for the foreign teacher. It might be necessary for actors in a movie production or project-based employments such as in research. It is not necessary for Fruit Salad, Hangman and English Ball!
Instead, negotiate a completion bonus, like I did it. This provided, let's hope that schools pay the money you have worked for.

Blacklisted School: Ma Jie Middle School, He Jiang, Lu Zhou, Sichuan, China
http://www.hjmjzx.com/
合江县马街中学