Re: Bond Institute/ International School in China - Teachers Discussion

I am currently working at Oxstand Bond and would have to agree that the conditions here are less than ideal. First of all the resources are limited to the internet only...keep in mind a lot of good websites are blocked here though so it can be very limiting. Not only that but the internet is broken half the time or the computers don't work at all. In our interviews we were promised international health coverage...we end up getting suck a crappy health package that only would cover the minimum and even then the amount of paper work you had to do made it to much of a hassle. On of our co-workers got hit by a car..none of his medical has been covered yet and it has been 6 months. When it came time to resign contracts, we had new ones drawn up ready to go that had promised a 3% raise. When it came time to sign and discuss next year with the head of Bond, she took our 3% raise away as well as made some bull shit promises. She did not give two shits about us the teachers. When we were in negotiations with her, she made multiple references to not caring if we signed on again or not as "we have multiple people ready to go for next year to fill all the positions" and that is a direct quote. But alas two months into looking for new teachers for next year and they still need two more to fill some positions. They lie and cheat you out of as much money as possible and screw you at every opportunity. if you are a teaching couple get prepared to be screwed even more. We moved into a fairly nice looking apartment at first but it has a bunch of problems that are not worth getting into. the important part to mention here is that regular single teachers each get 2500 RMB a month for an apartment...our apartment cost 2800 RMB. They are saving thousands by having us live together so we asked a simple favour to get some of our utilities paid for as we were both promised in our contracts full house allowance but we were told that it does not matter what the contract says this is what are you are getting and you will not receive any extra compensation.

Anyway I will end it here as there are way to many issues and I could go on for days. But keep in mind I have very few issues with China most are with BOND head office in Toronto. China is China with its own set of differences but they pale in comparison to the unethical behaviour of Bond

New teachers beware, it is not as good as they make it seem
Please feel free to contact me at ryannat42@gmail.com if you have any questions and I will gladly inform you of our experience with Bond.

Bond Institute/ International School in China - Teachers Discussion

OK, I just had to add this:
Paxton International (Bond Education Group) owns and operates the school chain known by many names: Bond International College, Bond Academy, Huamei-Bond, Shandong Canada, Donghai School, Bond Language Center, and many others.

They do indeed have a very poor reputation with teachers and across China. Even the Chinese know this school and the calibre of students it attracts and why. (Hey, there's a visa to Canada or the US just waiting for them when they graduate (with some help) and who cares that these students couldn't get into a Chinese university or school - yes, many of them are just your typical school drop outs).

Bond is advertising for teachers repeatedly and is having problems keeping them. The school facilities (or lack thereof) are incredibly poor considering the amount of money the schools bring in and that the owners make. Investing money on capital equipment is simply unnecessary since there are enough students paying an outrageous fee to "get educated" at a private English school.

The accommodation is OK and they pay on time, but all the other promises of language lessons and trips and who knows what else is just a pile of crock. Every term, teachers do runners, or find other ways to get out.

They do like the new and inexperienced teachers because they are easier to manipulate and fool than the more experienced ones. If you really don't care, know how to entertain the students (bring your guitar and sing - everyone will love you!) and are not really interested doing a professional job, then sure, go.

Don't be taken in by white-faced priincipals - especially the older retired types who have run school boards from Canada - they haven't been in a classroom for years, and have little respect for teachers. They are the token white face for the Big Bosses and do not really run the school in any way.

Education is a Business these days, but capitalism is running amok in China and makes for very greedy fellows. So be very careful about what school you pick. There are worse schools out there than Bond.