It is not a slam at those with 3-yr degrees, it is an assessment of the current teaching climate in several provinces of China based upon direct communication with the people mentioned.

A degree, 4-yr or the 3-yr offered from some nations, is now required. It is a must. What your agency or school or company tells you is meaningless. Guanxi is now meaningless despite what Walter posted.

If you think that you can just count on local officials to continue to look the other way, those days are over.

Even if everyone at a school is legit and the local police do not mind losing 50% of their income stream from missing bribes, one or more of the assistants will figure it out.

They earn 1200 to 1800 rmb a month for 7 or 8 months a year in rural China. The finders fee for illegals is 5000 rmb. Their agency or school may have up to 30 foreign teachers. Two illegals means she gets a year in income, and obviously more if more are illegals. Estimates are that up to 40% of teachers in China are not fully legally qualified. 12 of 30, 60k for her. That makes for a nice wedding.

So whether you are all legit does not matter. Some assistants at your company will work just long enough to get all the details on the teachers, she will then quit, and will immediately file all the data at the PSB hoping to collect many wan. Perhaps someone who works in the office will funnel the info to a relative so that they can split the bounty.

So if your company told you that you do not need a degree, and you believed them, it is very likely you will get in trouble and fined whilst your former assistant collects the bounty on you.

If you are legit then there will be several weeks of mayhem whilst the PSB sorts out the documents.

Degrees, real, accredited, 3 or 4 yr (as appropriate) degrees are now a must, a legal requirement. All other claims to the contrary are lies.

Claims that access to corrupt officials remains intact and that those without degrees need not worry, are directly contradicted by the experiences of those mentioned, and are in violation of the law which is now being enforced vigorously.

Even if you are qualified and legit, why are you working under the thumb of police surveillance and harassment and inspections?