How's about the setting up of a professional register of agencies/recruiters, with a code of conduct? Any one straying fromthe path can be struck-off. I would be delighted to join.

> =========================================

> CONGRATULATIONS, dear sir!

> You, like 'l'il ol' MOI,' back an essential necessity -- the testing
> of an ESL recruit PRIOR to an actual offer of employment -- which has
> actually been placed on the proverbial back burner! The truth is,
> without this vital procedure, all the fakers and "joy boys"
> from every English-speaking country in the world can sneak in under
> the carpet and cause ESL programs much grief. Of course, we can
> attribute this problem to those agencies who will blindly offer jobs
> to PRACTICALLY ANYONE without at least checking a recruit's
> background! Sounds like 'business as usual': The quest for the
> "Holy Buck" ... Yen ... Rupee ... Euro-Dollar ... or
> WHATEVER! But, in the final analysis, the truly sad part of this
> nasty business is that the upright, qualified, and highly dedicated
> instructor must usually spend months proving himself before being
> deemed as 'qualified' in the eyes of the employer and subsequently
> treated like the professional he truly is. But WHAT can be done about
> this injustice ... particularly since it has been known to cause the
> premature termination of some highly qualified teachers' careers in
> Asia? A unified movement? Unionization? Revolt? I
> doubt it. But it wouldn't hurt to start with the agencies, whose
> recruitment activities could be more strictly monitored by their
> respective governments. In this manner, there will surely be a
> much-needed 'separation of the men from the boys' when it comes to
> the vital question of academic qualifications. Have you noticed how
> the warnings (against both agencies and schools) have been increasing
> of late? Moreover, some legitimate instructors have even been
> victimized to the tune of hundreds of dollars -- myself having being
> one such dupe in 2000. Granted, there ARE many whiners, albeit none
> of us is really qualified to prejudge each and every case without an
> investigation of the grievances asserted. In my humble estimation,
> SOMETHING must surely be done before this situation reaches an
> irreversible proportion. In the final analysis, we are all dedicated
> to the same goal -- that of facilitating the international growth of
> the English language as a means of expressing both
> thoughts and emotions.

> Peace.