Good questions Freeman. Where do I get the impression that I know you?

Before decent answers can be given though, we need to know what you mean by these "qualifications" that teachers "should" have if they want to teach anywhere including China. As you refer specifically to China let's look first of all at the 'qualifications' that are required by the country itself. The "official" qualification that an FT needs if he wants to teach in China is a degree. ANY degree.That means that degrees in skills as diverse as crocheting or engineering can land you a job in many universities in China. In fact they could probably land you a job in the majority of schools that exist in China. Unofficially, however, to work in many private or public schools in China a "white" face is sufficient qualification. Still, further down the scale, there are a large amount of schools that will take any foreigner with a pulse. Degree or no degree, black, white, yellow, purple, or blue, if you're not Chinese and it's confirmed that you are still breathing, you can find employment teaching in many schools in China.

There are also quite a few schools in China that require more than a basic degree. For some positions PHDs are essential. International schools and top universities in China will usually require one or some of the following: an MA, degrees in education, or a BA or MA in TESOL/TOEFL. These schools nearly always pay much higher salaries than are paid in the majority of the regular schools in China. Unfortunately, such schools in China, are a small minority and here-in lies the rub. To acquire the above mentioned qualifications:MA's in TESOL, TOEFL and the like has meant a lot of sacrifice to the holder. That being the case when all the vacancies are filled at the prestigious international schools and universities, are these highly qualified TOEFL educators going to rush with open arms to work for 600 dollars a month in a poor town in China even if the school is genuinely geared to providing a real education for it's students? You can earn more than that by sleeping in bed all day and signing on the dole in England. The demand for FTs in China far exceeds the supply of highly qualified teachers who are willing to choose working for peanuts in a foreign environment over a far better paid job doing the same thing that they enjoy back in their home country amongst their family and friends. If they love teaching English to foreign students, why not do it back in their own country?

What we are left with in China? in the majority of schools which aren't prestigious, we have mainly teachers who have no more than a degree and perhaps a CELTA, or DELTA. Even these CELTA and DELTAs can be acquired within a month of "training". Many FTs who have gone through such courses often say that they were totally impractical for the reality of teaching in places such as China, anyway. Are all these FTs, who make up the majority in China, qualified? If not, what would it take for them to go home and get "qualified"? An MA course in education or TOEFL that will not only take at least a year if not more, but will also cost an arm and a leg? Surely of those that did this only a few would come back to China afterwards, because of the low salary. Thus qualified the world would be their oyster and they would find scores of more exotic and better paying locations than China.

The English education system in China gets what it pays for, and what it wishes to dispense. You said, that those at the top in this country are satisfied with the status quo. It seems that money is often more important to China than the proper education of it's children.

If a person is only over here "teaching " to fund a holiday or a tour of China, then it's very unlikely that they're going to spend thousands of pounds getting "qualified" to come back to China to teach. The only discernment they may probably use is in trying to find a school that doesn't rip them off. I believe that anybody with good English skills, a modicum of intelligence and most importantly a genuine LOVE of teaching EFL best becomes qualified "on the ground". Their heart would impel them towards qualification (by qualification I mean a teacher who is reaching his students and getting them to enjoy their study and learn). All the "paper qualifications" in the world will be of little use if a person does not really enjoy teaching. After a couple of years teaching in China most FTs know if they like/love teaching EFL here or not. They have learnt a lot about what works and what doesn't work in the classroom. As time goes on they research EFL in bookshops, in the library and on the Internet, in order to develop as teachers and find better ways to reach their students. They become more confident in standing before a class full of students by themselves. They become a lot more effecient in class management and in knowing how to motivate students. The best trainining is in the classroom and the best qualifications are found in those who have served their time whole-heartedly in schools up and down China and have a proven referenced track record of success in helping students to not only learn, but to find joy and purpose in learning.

Those who really love EFL in China will automatically use discernment in searching for good schools that actually care about the education of their students. You are right, such schools do exist in China, and they appreciate the FTs that give their all in the classroom. The only problem is that not enough of those schools exist, so many FTs with good intentions end up with a crummy school who cheats both themselves and their students. Many end up disillusioned, throwing their hands up in the air and saying, "China doesn't care, so why should I?"

Of course if all foreign teachers refused to work for all schools that ripped off their students then many good intentioned teachers would have to go home, because not enough good schools would be left to teach in. Instead many stay at these cheating schools with the intention of at least trying to make a difference in their classroom. Can they be blamed for that? Well, maybe.

Ultimately the buck stops with those responsible for education, and the private sector in China. It's THEIR education system. It's THEIR schools. It's THEIR children who are suffering by being cheated time and time again with their education. It's CHINESE parents who are being fooled by scores of leaders of these schools up and down the country. It's these supposedly educated parents who doll out mountains of money for the honour of their children being dispensed crap.

Until the education system or at least the English education system in China is comepletely overhauled, there is little motivation for FTs to spend cartloads of money on paper qualifications. There is also little to encourage them to continue indefinitely searching for good schools to teach in, in China. It could be said it's not our business to get involved. We may work here, but it's not our country is it? I think the best we can do is get our heads down and do our jobs as best we can, and let China take rightful responsibility for the rest. If you don't want flies in your front garden, then don't crap in it!