Re: Harbin GAC-ACT SCAM

Masha, I've forgotten to follow up more appropriately on your post. My two year old son bothered me as I was writting. Here's more on GAC assessments, local high schools curriculum and their cooperation with foreign programs for aboard studies.

On GAC assessments, they are to be carried out by foreign teachers at centers and then moderated in the centers by their Directors of Studies there. That's to be done as a team work in between DoSs and teachers. Then, these assessments are to be followed up to the local (mainland) headquarters where the Regional Academic Manager (also local unfortunately) is to further moderate these assessments of GAC students. After that moderations and if there're no objections from the local GAC centers, the GAC students' assessments scores are input in the students' files (iTap) for the GPA and western uni applications. In the event of GAC centers' objections to local headquarters moderations, the GAC students' assessments are to be sent and moderated by the Australian headquarters at the ACT Education Solution Limited company which by the way is the subsidiary of the ACT parent company in the US. From my experience, we've had some objections to our local headquarters and they've lost their face before as the scores where put back to "normal". That's actually one of the reasons the GAC Nanning has been black written/listed on that link as we've awared lower scores than some other mainland GAC centers (not black listed on the link). What's bothering is on this process that more and more, if not all now, mainland GAC centers opt for a local Director of Studies as it apparently is a local regulation and even more bothering in my case of the GAC Chongqing because the center never sent any of my GAC students' assessments to the headquarters and the local center manager, that acted as a DoS, never discussed the moderations with me either. Go figure why they are not blacklisted and shown as an example to others such as the GAC Nanning.

With regards to local high schools, their cooperation and your connection to them, I really am sceptical about running these not so fine academic programs along the local high school curriculum. One thing is that if an academic company such as ACT-GAC or yours want to run these prep courses, they'll need their licenses (local) and they'll need to provide their academic materials prior to the license issuance. Not that I want to get political on here, but any such company/center will have to prove its academic program does not interfere with the local customs, regulations, education etc. Anotherwords, all your course books'll have to prove that and you won't be able to replace them until you get a permit to do so. This is a pretty complex process but I am quite sure that you may re-edit or issue new versions of your books on yearly basis, but it's seemingly unclear how much you can change. The GAC edits new versions of their 3 moduled course books, although the changes are minimal and what's in the books is "rotten potatoes" mixed with "sticky rice". One point that I want to make here also is that these prep course academic material usually, and in GAC for sure, contradicts the local educational standards and their own curriculum, but again I do not mean to politicize on here. Running these courses along their own at the local high schools here is like ... eating zongzi (traditional Chinese sticky rice in a leaf) with a rotten potato and ketchup inside of it. Local students have also their local goals and if they are in the third grade of their high schools, they'll have so much to do to prepare for their local college entry exams (that've just happened here). Just imagine giving your students a research paper presentation for something when they are getting ready for their local tests here. Are we to believe these youngsters are going to do both jobs well? I don't believe it and neither do the local high school officials in many places. So, and to contradict you, Masha, not so many mainland GAC centers are on high school campuses. They are at local unis just as the GAC Nanning, Guangzhou or Harbin. The GAC Chongqing has little to do with any local high school as it is running its (very) independant programs with the first and second year high school dropouts that'll only go back to their schools to pick up (buy) their grad certs. I'd like to know which high school official would agree to our western uni prep couses that we're talking about here. If there're any, then my hats down to them..and i'll bow as deep as i can. I've heard of Chengdu's high schools but i've had no chance to bow from Chongqing.

Darn, posting on public forums may have cost me some opportunities and never mind my GAC Chongqing's highly negative "recommandation". But isn't it good to share our experiences on? What would these forums be for then, if we didn't? Look at so many GAC centers around (see the link) and if you are at one, you have virtually no opportunity to talk to other centers' staff..well, unless you are a local.

Cheers and beers

Re: Harbin GAC-ACT SCAM

guys guys i don't really know who's threatened us/me..could've come from anywhere but my own kitchen.these are first class thugs..these ones don't charge a thousand quai per course but 60,000 and i have reasons to believe there's a hell lot of under the table dole to get the unfortunate kids enrolled into western higher educational insititutions there. it seems they are hand in hand with the local authorities and my experience with the chongqing PSB and the SAFEA officer proves it as well. i don't believe harbin's much different, is it?

cheers and beers to all fts in china as well as around the world

Re: Harbin GAC-ACT SCAM

Monitor, it is a franchised setup for a 9 months program in China, not it other countries to my knowledge, as locals wish to make a quick prep for abroad higher education and 'cause the mainland authorities have not allowed this academic product along their own academic courses in their high schools. Therefore, private centers take care of this shortened prep program and carry it out at local unis, high school campuses or even in their own places. The program is meant to be for two years and along the local high school curriculums, although the Chinese one is quite uncompatible to be honest. In, say for example Indonesia, according to my knowledge they provide this is a two-years program at the local high schools and after the kids graduate there they make their choices, not like in China where this the only choice as kids have dropped out from the local programs and so they'd have to come back to use yet another year. Then, either seeking a post at a center or looking to enroll your kid to these courses on mainland, it is so misleading if you see a college or a high school publicly advertising this program as it usually has little to do with the entities themselves. In fact, this is all about a private mill that's subscribed to an ACT Education Solution Limited uni prep academic program (Austrialan subsidiary to the American ACT) or shall i say that's franchised by a greatly decentralized organization called ACT, the parent company of all of this mess. Fts and locals should know that this is nothing else but a private mill company run by the great ACT that claims, as i've heard, it is not for a profit organization. My bet is that this American company has set up an off shore banking and the Australian "white horse" called ACT Education Solution Limited is supposed to facilitate and above all SHARE the profits from the mandatory 5 year 20,000 US dollars payments per center and from the royalty fees per student. The Chongqing high school dropouts paid 60,000 each last year.

Now, why are we on and on about this? This is a setup SCAM OF THE CENTURY in the education worldwide. Agreeably everyone is to benefit out of this but when the chain gets broken..or when some push their luck too far, it leads to tragedies. 9 months is too short for many mainland kids and some end up under a lot of stress abroad. Then, these kids need so much help there and others abroad are affected as well. Also, my observation is that western uni standards have gone down and some of these kinda kids that squeeze through the system there end up owning a BA or even an MBA from subjects they do not know adequately at all. Such trends may have some really dangerous consequencies in future, may they not? Another tragedy is that these young people learn how to beat the system and how to lie which also may have some grave consequencies on their and all of our future lives as these kinda people out of such easygoing schools'll further lie and lie and lie till someone gets hurt..or till they, in their leadership positions one day, manage to destroy a company or companies with their poor/dishonest practices. And,above all, yet another tragedy comes with us, the foreign teachers that facilitate these kinda programs locally. We travel continents to get to these youngsters and to help them get ready for their future higher education abroad. Here we often get paid a lot less then we would for such programs in our home countries, but i believe that many of us honestly want to prepare these local kids for their future anyway. I took almost half a salary paycut coming into this program. I eagerly agreed to the ACT-GAC academic program coz it was so much more challenging then just teaching the language and coz it offered students with such high goals. I was bored with students that just liked the language and that just wanted to find a better job or immigrate. Sadly enough I have found out that many of these ACT-GAC students (or their parents) seem to want to immigrate too.

Most importantly, I have wasted almost 5 years of my life learning the ropes in the highly dishonest academic program with some really dangerous employers that for 50,000-60,000 Yuan send unqualifies and ill prepared youngsters to western countries higher educational institutions. Moreover, all my 5 years effort has yielded me a grave trouble getting my next work permit on mainland as my last employer, or her manager, that knew me only for 6 months decided to provide me with a negative letter of recommendation. In past few months, that i've spent searching for a new opportunity on mainland, I have encountered difficulties landing a new position and worries my upcoming work permit may get declined. I am talking about the disgrace one has to go through for having done his job. I am talking about one manager in a center that decides you are not to work in China. I am talking about a decade of work in a country that may not matter as 6 months decide how good or bad you have been throughout all that time in the country. What a bigotry. What a miserable system the country has set up to have the employers or their managers abuse us so much. And, what a disasterous organization in the American ACT company that has allowed locals to abuse the product and fts to such extent. Shame on the American ACT superior T[edited] A[edited] who has not followed up on my email correspondance accordingly and who most likely has never intended to do anything about the Chongqing's ACT-GAC center as, in his words, the American headquarters do not interfere in the Chinese ACT-GAC centers' affairs. This man and his accomplices in Iowa are most likely responsible for all other poor centers'and fts miseries as he/they allowed the centers to carry out the academic product in the way the subscribers wish to carry the products out. In one of his emails to me he says that he gives warnings to subscribers, although centers keep on "roling" in their own ways.

On whether this company should stop its subscribers on mainland, I'd say YES. But if it did, I am affraid other scammers would fill in the gap. There's already a stiff competition around in this field. WEB's advertising SAT prep (another american college entry exam) and there're other turkeys like educkeys or something like that. In my view, if the west does not stop accepting foreign students from these kinda places, it'll only get worse. UK is trying, Canada would like to follow and I hope other countries like the US or Australia will get on board as well.

Cheers and beers to our efforts on mainland as well as cheers and beers to all the locals that want a true prep for higher education abroad

Re: Harbin GAC-ACT SCAM

Yet again the GAC/ACT SCAM rears its ugly head on this forum. After reading all of the posts in this thread, I'd have to say that those who are in denial about the despicable way GAC/ACT is administered here in China are either absolute buffoons or in the pockets of the perpetrators of this scam. Cheers and beers to all those former insiders of GAC/ACT centres here in China who have been selfless enough to open this can of worms for the benefit of the board's readers.

Harbin GAC-ACT SCAM

I am a British teacher who recently quit the Harbin GAC School as a Conscientious Objector. I have worked in ESL for years, but this Center in Harbin was doing everything they could to stop us from actually teaching the students anything.

Among the other allegations, they were writing the answers to the ACT Test on the board. I am not sure the staff even knew what they were writing, they were just told to copy a form on the board during the test. As far as I know it's against international law to falsify governmental paperwork and submit it to a governmental agency, and the ACT is a US Government Form.

They change the organization so often that on Monday and Wednesday of each week the entire schedule changed. By the end of the 12 weeks, we usually had not even covered half the material. Of course they had a final test which they had to take and they were of course unprepared to take it. The Owner Hellen Wang Yun's answer was to simply change the scores on the test to Passing, have the staff re-write all the essays and submit these to the Shanghai office.

Well the Shanghai office noticed the obvious cheating and sent an inspection person, but instead of actually inspection SHE HELPED THEM CHEAT. She FIXED their cheating so that it looked more presentable and then submitted the forms herself.

The final straw was when they told me that none of the items in my contract would be honored, including Sick Leave, Holiday Pay, and my Annual Bonus. The owner created a list of rules that entirely CONTRADICTED the Contract and her GIANT Chinese Assistant brow beat the foreign teachers into signing it or we would be immediately fired and deported.

The GAC Corporate has completely lost control of it's GAC Centers And I recently found out that Wang Yun (Helen) Previously owned the Harbin Police College that was shut down for guess what? Falsification. Now she is using her sister's name on all of her documents because the Chinese Government has blacklisted her from running education centers.

The ACT Shanghai has opened an investigation on her and her Center and from an American friend I have been told that the US Government has started a file on her. It's only a matter of time before the Chinese government steps in.

Re: GAC-ACT

J Melbourne, they are more corrupt and deceitful than you can possibly imagine and never mind the little fish such as a DoS, a school's owner or the Shaghai's headquarters and its only Chinese staff. Let me quote you here below to answer how corrupt they really are.

With the students ACT scores as lows as they are, I can't believe the students are accepted to American Universities...

At some of the mainland GAC schools, the local administrators carry out these American ACT college entry exams. I myself sat in during one of the mainland ACT exams and I supervised the local staff and test takers with their parents waiting outside. The exam took place at the University where I worked and it was carefully publicized. Even though I was assigned to supervise the exams, I was not allowed to grade them as the local administrators of my employer (the GAC subscriber) picked them all up from me. Interestingly, there were so many test takers (100s) and unfamiliar faces, but I was told they were for the GAC courses. As it looked that it was a clear success for my employer, he (and she) further publicized the American college exams later again. They were not as careful the second time and SOMETHING happened. Our GAC license was pulled down temporarily (a couple weeks or so). I guess we could blame the Shanghai's headquarters, but they've been warned a few times by the central government not to carry out the ACT exams on mainland. According to Beijing, the exams do not have a permission, although Mr. Todd Andrews, the ACT man in charge of Asia, has been promoting them "silently" at the GAC schools on mainland for a few years. Since he has poorly followed up on my recent complaints about another GAC school, where I spent a rather short time, I believe that this American man collects dues not only for the initial subscribers' fees and royalty fees per student but also other fees that aren't as official. :)

By the way, have you heard of the large cash gifts accepted by some financially strapped American Universities? There are a few dozen Chinese students from my classrooms that are studying at American Universities now and some have even got their scolarships (well publicized on my campus) there. Wondering how it could be when the local high school dropout student so underperformed in my classrooms, I have come to believe the story of gifts that have certain terms and conditions. This is also a great way to avoid paying taxes for the Americans, isn't it?

Cheers and beers to importing the American education to mainland (ers) :lol

Re: GAC-ACT

Jim Smith, you have stunned me with your three posts. Two from March 24th are so alike. I guess you had to get the point across, didn't you? Here below is my answer and I'll follow up further at weekend. I am busy too.:)

Nice post Smitty - One point though. I believe Chinese people are intelligent and savvy, this includes even the wealthy ones. No parent I've ever met wants their child to cheat their way through school.

Many parents I have met want their kids so badly abroad theyd do anything. Most of my kids came out of first or second year high school classrooms and so never finished/graduated there. However, their parents, their connections, and the GAC schools have helped them graduate these high schools somehow during the 9 months in our classrooms where some of them even do not come to for the full time. Then, whatever marks we give are usually adjusted by either the Shanghais head office or schools administrators and thats my experience too. No，I would not say anyone is cheating or teaching anyone to cheat. :)
I hope you'll say my post is nice too. :)

The GAC is not run by Chinese in Shanghai. That is incorrect-false information. Furthermore, There is built in accountability and the curriculum is excellent. Furthermore, students are encouraged to go to whatever English speaking country they choose not just the USA. Thats another out and out lie. Heres the kicker, as part of the curriculum all GAC students are required to take the ACT exam. You tell me, what better way to assess EFL students overall skills than through the ACT. The ACT and the SAT exams are the most important and credible undergraduate entry exam in the USA for sure and probably the entire English speaking world.

This， in fact, is the kicker. An international hamburger promoter that says that only American cows are suitable for the burger? Yes, the GAC is/or has been run by the Australian office and their administrator called Gayle Pullen and their company is called ACT Education Solution Limited, but they are owned by the ACT thats stationed in the USA and that runs the ACT American college entry exams, not the GAC. The GAC has been designed for all Universities, not only the American ones that ACT serveswell, the private ones mostly as the public ones are mostly for SAT in the USA. By the way, the ACT is about what you learn and SAT, where you have to reason more likely, is about what your aptitude is, so I wouldnt mix them up really. The ACT surely is more welcome on mainland as you can learn it provided that you know the language and have learnt in high schools the subjects tested, which many Chinese students do not and will not learn in a year at GAC schools anyway.

Lastly, I dont doubt there is some grade inflation going on. There may be more unscrupulous behavior like some of the other posters have mentioned. You must understand GAC schools are individually owned just like IBO World Schools. Its up to the owners and administrators to create a clean and fruitful learning environment. I have been to a half dozen GAC schools. One had 67 students enrolled, all the teachers were professional and the principal was from the west and was as good as they come. The other five had anywhere from 75 to 200 students enrolled and they are model schools in my opinion. Please keep in mind, the GAC has been less than 8 years.

Interestingly, the posters you have seemingly criticized have shared what has happened to them and what they have seen in the schools that theyve named on the boards, although, in your March 24 and March 25 GAC-ACT outburst, you have omitted your exact locations where youve experienced what you claim you have experienced. Forgive my observation or if I am wrong, but it is hard to overlook your advertising mission on. Do you really believe it should only be up to the owners (and their administrators), that are the subscribers to the program, to create a clean and fruitful learning environment at GAC schools? To contradict your half a dozen GAC schools experiences, I know a Kunming one thats struggled with just about 5 poor students and thats got beeped by the head office with yet another GAC school in the same city (never mind the subscribers contract), I know of a couple poor Guangzhous GAC schools where their academic sub standards are endless, I know of a GAC Haikou thats gone down a few months after it opened, I know of GAC Nanning where there are just about half a dozen students struggling in their classroom and I also know of a GAC Chongqing with 9 current students out of which only 4 are at above elementary level of English. The facts, that these centers have cut corners and that the students realized that TOEFL or IELTS can get them abroad without the GAC foundation program, are putting them out of business or into a further desperation to accept virtually anyone with money in. The fact, the foreign GAC facilitators do not want to teach only the proficiency courses, has put the GAC schools and students in a position to improvise with other schools, teachers and even other options leaving these GAC enrolled students on their own. Oh, please keep in mind that the GAC, that Ben Denton has cloned from some Beijing Uni press, Australian TAFE and IELTS into these not so cohesive academic materials, is not so GAC but ACT now.

Now you have the good and the bad. I love the GAC thats why Im opening a new ATC next month. I believe it is an excellent, highly accountable, program to help those students who desire something different by going abroad for their tertiary education. For you qualified teachers out there; please dont be afraid to apply to GAC school. Do your dd before hiring on just like you would if you applied for any other new job. Sincerely Jim

So, which one are you opening; the GAC or the ACT? Well, I hope youll have all the fine students and foreign teachers knocking at your doors soon。

Cheers and beers to the American college entry exams that are just so great for the whole world :lol

Re: GAC-ACT

I just had some "recruiter" call me for a GAC position the other day for a new start up school somewhere in the west of China. The posting by Jim Smith rings true concerning GAC. I am also a licensed educator originally from the USA and I have worked in some international programs as well. China needs to mandate some form of a required licensing process for "teachers" that are working in China but with all of the cash being passed around under the table in China, that is not going to happen anytime soon. Around China in most cases, if you pass the pretty white face test, you are as good as hired. I am no longer teaching Chinese students in China and because of that, I am no longer caught up in the usual grind of corruption or dealing with sub-standard equipment and poorly written policies because I work for a foreign owned organization that serves other foreigners doing business in China. Most of the people in my office all have Ph.D.'s and they paid their dues in China and then some. I have found that living and working in China without dealing with Chinese involvement is a much smoother ride. Then again, in order to work for the company that I work for now, certain requirements have to be met and that kept out many so-called "English teachers" and in many regards, avoiding people that are not really teachers and the Chinese that are in the education sector for the reasons of only making making money is a good idea.

Problems crop up when most anyone in China can open a "training center" and then offer programs such as the GAC for example and when "teachers" come in to "teach" that are not really teachers, it all goes down the drain quickly.

As for Jim's comment which was "The ACT and the SAT exams are the most important and credible undergraduate entry exam in the USA for sure and probably the entire English speaking world."

I agree with this position.

Re: GAC-ACT

The GAC -Another view from another educator: Ive been teaching for many years. I have professional teaching certificates from two states in the USA. I hold a Masters Degree in International Education with an emphasis in ESL/EFL. My professional teaching/administrating experience includes, writing curriculum and accreditation reports and teaching at WASC accredited public high schools and colleges in the USA. Since moving to China three years ago, Ive taught at 2 International Baccalaureate schools. The first, was as a DP teacher and the second, I taught and administrated as the DP Coordinator. Since moving here to China Ive met many actual teachers. Ive also met many so called English Teachers.

A person who calls himself a teacher and happens to be in China and is employed as a teacher is no more a teacher than an assembly-line transistor-tech working in Taiwan is a an electrical engineer. In China, you can call yourself a teacher and people buy it because of your skin color, accent and passport. Not unlike a technician in Taiwan may convince his friends hes an EE because his pals have no idea what an EE actually is. That said, you show me your documented credentials and skills and Ill refer to you in the appropriate manner. There is a distinction between someone like me and someone who has a BA in psychology or business and says hes a teacher because he lives in China and has a job with EF and just happens to have a blue passport.

The corruption, deception and ineptitude run deep here when it comes to English teaching. Why would anyone work for the same employer for 4 years when such terrible inequities (like you mentioned) are taking place? The answer is because the person, the Teacher is unqualified and therefore unmarketable. Unfortunately for China, 9 of 10 Teachers are unqualified or perhaps a better term is non-qualified. The system is perpetuated by this which has its good and bad points. The bad points are obvious; lower standards plus the entire educational products is devalued. On the up side, millions of people without skills (other than English first skills) can come to China and earn a living.
As for the GAC: I happen to know a little something about the GAC. Its purpose is known as a foundation school. It was developed to prepare EFL students to go abroad to English speaking countries for university including; the UK, Australia, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and of course the USA. There is a fee to open the school there are royalties paid on a per student enrollment basis So What!!! Do you think the IB is free?? (Most of you dont even know what the IB is look it up www.ibo.org ). As good as the IBOs reputation is and as evolved as there standards are, I have witnessed some of the worst learning environments ever at so called IBO World Schools. With that said, Ive seen some stellar IBO schools here in China, with quality management and a professional teaching staff. Like the GAC, the IBO does not manage or own schools; as a result they have their fair share of dogs no better or worse than the GAC.

The GAC is not run by Chinese in Shanghai. That is incorrect-false information. Furthermore, There is built in accountability and the curriculum is excellent. Furthermore, students are encouraged to go to whatever English speaking country they choose not just the USA. Thats another out and out lie. Heres the kicker, as part of the curriculum all GAC students are required to take the ACT exam. You tell me, what better way to assess EFL students overall skills than through the ACT. The ACT and the SAT exams are the most important and credible undergraduate entry exam in the USA for sure and probably the entire English speaking world.

Lastly, I dont doubt there is some grade inflation going on. There may be more unscrupulous behavior like some of the other posters have mentioned. You must understand GAC schools are individually owned just like IBO World Schools. Its up to the owners and administrators to create a clean and fruitful learning environment. I have been to a half dozen GAC schools. One had 67 students enrolled, all the teachers were professional and the principal was from the west and was as good as they come. The other five had anywhere from 75 to 200 students enrolled and they are model schools in my opinion. Please keep in mind, the GAC has been less than 8 years.

Now you have the good and the bad. I love the GAC thats why Im opening a new ATC next month. I believe it is an excellent, highly accountable, program to help those students who desire something different by going abroad for their tertiary education. For you qualified teachers out there; please dont be afraid to apply to GAC school. Do your dd before hiring on just like you would if you applied for any other new job. Sincerely Jim

Re: GAC-ACT

Dear Ms Sun Carol, this is the teachers board and these aren't any "accusations" or "assumptions" but experiences of real teachers with the bogus centers of a company or companies running the ACT-GAC scam. Your false premises from your post on this topic will surely not be appreciated by the teachers that have to travel, often 1000s of miles, to discover they're not only taken advantage of but also greatly mistreated by the local scumbag employers

Sun Carol wrote:
I trust that anyone who is really interested in the GAC program can find out the truth by logging on to www.gac.cn.com and www.act.org and by talking to the teachers who are still teaching in those centers, not those who were fired. Anyway, truth speaks for itself, so I'll save my time here

First of all, assuming that posters on teachers board have got fired and so they've posted is not so wise, is it? Then, posting the two contradictive links is pretty .... :) By the way, could you explain to us how we may be able to speak to those teachers that are still teaching at those centers???
Let me bring up all the GAC centers that run this program and that employ these teachers we are talking about (below)

Out of the link below you may find some centers with a "blue" some with a "black" color and you may be able to only click on the "blue" printed centers there as the "black" ones have also been "blacklisted" by the Shanghai's headless office. The reasons behind that are the most interesting and intriguing as they show how the Australian Head Office that owns the rights to the GAC academic product fights the ACT Head Office in the US that owns the Australian Head Office.

http://www.actinternationalservices.com/en/aesl/gac/atc.html

Beijing Beifang Foreign Language School GAC center
Beijing Hai Dian Foreign Language Shi Yan School GAC center
Beijing Zhong Guan Cun Foreign Language School GAC Center
Australia International Foundation Center, Shude Middle School Chengdu
China-Australia College Beijing (HuiJia)
China Oil & Gas Pipeline Bureau Middle School GAC Center
Chongqing Owen Foreign Language School
ESLI Zhengzhou Campus
Fortune Business Management Consulting Institution
GAC Center of Quanzhou School of Beijing Normal University
GAC Hunan Approved Teaching Center
GAC International UniversitiesPreparatory School of Shanghai, Pudong Center
Guangdong Training School for Studying Abroad
Guangxi University of Nationalities
Harbin Police College, Xing Liang School
Hefei Run'an Boarding School GAC Approved Teaching Center
Henan International Foundation Academy
Humen Foreign Language School
Jiangsu College for International Education
Jiangyin Yaosai Middle School GAC Center
Jincheng College, Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics GAC Center (JC-NUAA GAC Center)
Kunming Foreign Language School GAC Center
Kunming University of Science and Technology GAC Center
Liberal College at Zhuhai
Lulu International Exchange School at the University of Technology
Mudu Senior High School
Ningbo Bei Lun High School GAC Center
Qingdao University GAC Center
Shandong University GAC Center
Shanghai University GAC Center
Shenzhen BNU Affiliated High School Training Center
South China University of Technology
Tangshan Foreign Language School GAC Center
Tangshan No 1 High School GAC Center
Tsinghua University, School of Continuing Education
Wujin Senior High School GAC center
Wuxi Guanghua Private School
Xiangtan Sunny Foreign Language School GAC Center
Xi'an Jiao Tong University GAC Center
Xiamen Yingcai School International Education Center
Wuhan Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Continuing Education College
Zhejiang University School of Continuing Education
Zibo Experimental High School GAC Center

Now, the fact is that I have worked for two employers that own some of these centers above. On record, I have accomplished 4 one-year contractual agreements with one employer and half a year with another one. Yes, I professionally resigned on one month notice recently to clear the air for Ms Sun Carol. One of my employers owned a few centers and mind you these centers were quite something. One center opened and abruptly closed two months later. One center has been operating for 4 years now and as of today there are just 4 students in a classroom. Another employer, my most recent one that I have resigned from, has got 9 students out of which 4 are a complete waste of time..not money as these students pay 60,000 Yuan to get abroad :)
Moreover on these mentioned centers, I have experienced a gradual decrease in students' enrollments but that I am not going to "assume" why on here. On another note, there are GAC centers on mainland that have opened a few years ago in one city another the contractual agreement that only they would be the operating centers in the area. However, the ACT-GAC went back on their promises and allowed more centers to open in the same area too as there's a 10,000 US dollars to collect per license and then there are royalty fees for each student enrolled in the center as well. So much for the success, Ms Sun Carol. :)

Cheers and beers to Ms Sun Carol and all the teachers at these centers that have been working there for long enough to tell you how great the GAC or ACT (whatever they want it to be) reall is

Re: GAC-ACT SCAM

Another great post exposing the skullduggery that accompanies the way GAC is applied here in China.All Chinese learners of English and our fellow foreign teachers who have read your posts have been well warned re the GAC scam by your posts from the perspective of a former insider.You've done a great service for the EFL community in China.Thanks a million for that.

China: GAC-ACT

Watch out everyone as they advertise around. GAC center in Qingdao/Dalian China is now advertising AGAIN. They've advertised about 6 times in just about 9 months and 3 times in past 4 months only. Also, at the same time, they've been advertising for DoSs, not only the teachers which raises suspicions of their poor management practices and a high turnover of foreign experts there.

Now, I have reasons to believe the GAC centers around China are bogus companies in business to ship the filthy rich parents' spoiled kids abroad as, from my experience, none of the centers that I have worked at has cared about the students' academic progress or in class participation. Further more, my recent correspondance with the person in charge, the head of the ACT that owns this GAC operations, indicates that these GAC centers are not under his/the ACT-GAC management at all. Moreover, I have some evidence that their faulty academic material is MADE IN CHINA, not as "foreign" as advertised which is seemingly their selling point too.

Here, a link to the company's advertisement on their product
http://www.actinternationalservices.com/en/aesl/index.html
suggests that students are to join western unis out of this program but the American owner, the ACT, has taken the business into its own hands and begun promoting ONLY the US unis instead of all the unis around the world.

out of the above link:
ACT Education Solutions, Limited helps international studentsparticularly those for whom English is not a first languageprepare for study at English-speaking universities around the world.

a lie as the ACT entry exam at the centers where i've worked at is a selling point and a draw for the filthy rich Chinese

out of the above link:
Global Assessment Certificate (GAC)a university preparation program, taught and evaluated in English. The program gives international students the skills they need to enroll in and succeed at English-speaking colleges and universities. Growing rapidly, the program is currently offered at over 60 locations in 12 countries.

this GAC is a piece of paper cert that even the ones that do not successfully graduate get. note that, NEITHER the students' visas NOR the applications to the unis usually depend on this graduation course.

out of the link above:
ACT's English Proficiency Program (EPP)an academically oriented English language program designed to prepare students for further studies in English, including the Global Assessment Certificate (GAC) program. It has a balanced focus on the key language skillsreading, writing, listening, and speakingas well as a strong grounding in grammar and pronunciation.

this is supposed to mislead as the actual ACT is an entry exam to American colleges that is actually not completely legal on mainland. the central government has not allowed it and issued a warning a few times in past 5 years (even to the HQ of this company in Shanghai). Never mind the repeating of GAC-ACT pitch in both quotes above.

out of the link above:
International Targeted Admissions Profiler (iTAP)an independent, targeted international student recruitment database that is available to English language higher education institutions that become Pathway Universities for GAC graduates.

The iTAP is managed completely by the Chinese centers' administrators and owners and so the students' scores entered in are often higher than the scores the actual foreign facilitators (considered experts) award. In China, the Shanghai's HQ is managed solely by the Chinese that claim they act on behalf of the foreign company. However, I have not observed exactly that throughout my 4 and a half years with the company on mainland. Rememeber that there is an initial fee the center pays and then there's a royalty fee every center pays for individual students it has singed in.

So, "the other site" for teachers and employers that has recently got into sponsoring some companies, has also been advertising for this one
http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/china/index.cgi?read=20853

Cheers and beers to the few good teaching jobs that are left out there :)

[Edited by Administrator (admin) Sat, 14 May 2011, 03:51 AM]