Hello Turnoi:

Let's continue this debate.

You said:

I would not say that I do blame a "teacher" if I say I won't employ someone having worked for EF or similar place at my school.

If you don't make any exceptions, no matter what the qualifications (I have a friend who has all the qualifications you're looking for and also worked in a private school) than you are punishing the teachers for having worked for private schools.

you wrote:

I have tried to point out that this is a system question. And the truth is that the system of crappy training centres like EF or other similar places is that they employ teachers, many or some of whom would not be employable somewhere else

I can't accept this as a logical argument. You say your problem is with the "system" the schools use, and then that "system" is that they hire crappy teachers. Hence the problem with anyone whose worked for EF or Aston is that they are automatically crappy teachers because they've been hired by EF or Aston.

I do not know of any public school or college or uni in Europe that employ English teachers, native speakers or not, that would employ someone with for example a CELTA and with or without a degree.

But I for one have both and worked for three private schools. You might at some point recognize that in addition to saying most or all of these schools are "crappy" and, I'm not sure if it was you or Torino who said they private school students are spoiled brats, but you are also saying I am a crappy teacher and you wouldn't hire me. I haven't taken particular offense to this, but I have registered it. Further, we aren't talking about universities in Europe, but rather universities in China, and they definitely do hire people that are not really qualified to teach English, spoken or otherwise.

You wrote:

Another point is that most of those "teachers" graduating from a 4 week CELTA (or another) 4 week intensive course know nothing about English grammar and even do not know the most basic rules nor the appropriate technical terminology to explain their points.

This is false. I was required to take a grammar exam, have several grammar quizzes, and give my own presentation on an aspect of grammar.

As a teacher, how do you explain to a student, for example, the fact that there are so many discrepancies between actual pronunciation and spelling in English? You can't explain if you have no knowledge of English grammar, Linguistics, and the history of English?

In most instances in China the students wouldn't understand the answer to such a question, nor would it be particularly relevant. However, of course one wouldn't have someone teach "linguistics" if they had no background in it.

If a private training centre wants to teach some Chinese housewives to order a cup of tea in central London, then it may perhaps do its job. When it come up to teach a course in Academic Writing, it is more doubtful that a training centre could provide quality educational standards

While private schools may hire under-qualified teachers, they do formally require a BA and a teaching certificate, so let's not reduce all teachers to the lowest common denominator. And If the housewives also wanted to run a business, travel, interact with people in an English speaking country, participate in the culture on a meaningful level, and be able to understand news programs you are right that private schools are equipped to provide that. If a younger student merely wants to be at the top of his class in spoken English, and be able to have conversations and debates about significant issues, you are also correct that a private school can provide that. As for academic writing, I don't know of any private schools that offer courses in that. I agree that teachers without bachelor's degrees would not be appropriate candidates to teach such courses. They also shouldn't teach chemistry or economics.

But, again, we're talking about teaching English in China. Do you really expect someone with a BA or MA (my university will only hire people with MAs) in applied linguistics, or what have you, plus 2 or more years of teaching experience (excluding working for private schools which would disqualify one from employment possibilities) would or should want to teach in China for a very low salary, where there is a good chance they will also be screwed over a bit (more stories are cropping up of teachers paying for their own visas, physical exams, losing their vacation pay, teaching increasing hours).

Among the real candidates that real schools in China get, I still think someone whose worked in private schools, even if it's only to teach students to use English effectively in everyday situations, business environments, and for all practical purposes (but excluding classes in language theory or thesis writing) has an advantage over someone without that experience.

But we're not going to agree on this. I'm also not going to agree about the rich brats, the housewives (rather derogatory towards Chinese women), or the "crappy" school stuff. I prefer to live in reality.