For anyone considering working in Bozhou city, Anhui province, with BETC (British English Training Center or Bryan English Training Center same school, but given two different names by the two partners who run it, one British and the other, a Chinese guy with the English name Bryan) I am posting this message as a warning. After working as an English teacher at a more professional school in Qingdao and meeting other English teachers from different schools in Qingdao and around China who have positive work experiences, I was unprepared for the lack of professionalism and both blatant and more subtle deception that I encountered working for BETC in Bozhou. The deception came in the form of false advertisements, being lied to about certain benefits of working at Bozhou BETC, not receiving the proper documentation to work there, not receiving reimbursement for my visa costs, and not receiving the full salary that had been agreed upon in my contract. Read on for details.

To start with, a quick look at their online advertisement for a Chinese course certified by the Bozhou Education Authority is a misleading offer. When I first arrived at BETC, I was told that my Chinese level (upper-intermediate at the time) was too advanced for the program they had established. When I recently arrived, because they wanted to keep me there, they were very accommodating in setting up lessons for me. Once I became settled, however, and my schedule changed, the courses turned into me just brining my books into the office and working with whoever was around at the time. When two new foreign teachers came, neither of whom spoke any Chinese, their courses were taught by the English teachers (of Chinese nationality) who had no training in teaching Chinese. This is not to say that they were bad teachers. We were all friends and got along well and enjoyed spending time together, but calling these informal lessons certified is a bit deceptive. This type of deception is pretty harmless, but misleading.

The advertisement for internet in the apartment (not installed when I arrived and, after it was finally put in several weeks later, I had to pay for half of the installation costs) was another lie, but not a huge deal as the installation cost was inexpensive and there were many internet bars within walking distance of my apartment (which was also convenient as the internet frequently didnt work and could take days or weeks to repair).

The visa documentation, however, did turn out to be a big deal because the school told me before I came that I would have an internship with a Chinese medicine company and be put on a business visa. (The promise of an internship, one of the major factors that made me decide to go with BETC rather than accept one of my other offers, was not even a real internship with the company. Similar to the school, it was disorganized and unprofessional. Most importantly, the Chinese medicine company wasnt even interested in the website that one of the BETC partners was trying to sell them on, so there was no actual work with the company, just with a couple of foreigners who do some work on a website every once in a while.) Consequently, I was made to work on my travel visa (which was convenient for them as well because, as a teacher on a travelers visa in China, I had no legal right to seek compensation they owed me). On top of that, I was told verbally that the visa expenses (which were expensive both because I am an American and because I had to go through a middle man when the school wasnt able to handle the visa properly) would be covered by the school. In the end, they only paid for a small fraction of the costs (even deducting some of the cost from my salary) and told me (after I had been working there for a few months and had been through the one-month trial period) that the school couldnt afford it because I was a bad teacher for the younger kids and they didnt have enough demand for classes with the older students. Admittedly, I am a much better teacher for older students and my area of expertise in Qingdao was TOEFL test prep (where I trained other teachers in that area). Nevertheless, three months into working there and having already agreed to pay the costs, it was ridiculous for them to make me pay to work there illegally. (Though, it was also stupid for me not to have written down the verbal agreement into the written contract.)

Finally, getting paid on time and receiving the full amount owed was a big issue not just for me, but for many of the employees at BETC. After working with BETC for three months and having agreed to stay another month there, I was told two days before my visa was set to expire that the school couldnt afford to keep me, they didnt know how to resolve my visa (even though it was just a simple extension of a tourist visa), and that I had to leave in two days. They said that I would not receive any of my travel reimbursement and that I would receive a reduced salary for the past week I had worked because they were not able to schedule a full work load for me (which is their responsibility, not mine). Not wanting to leave the country in two days and have to pay an exorbitant amount of money for booking a last-minute flight, I agreed to be paid hourly for the last month that I worked there if they gave me the flight reimbursement they had already promised me at the end of the month. While my contract stipulated that I work a maximum of 25 hours a week and get paid 6,000 RMB per month, they ended up cutting my hours back dramatically and paying me 60 RMB per hour. In total, I worked 8 hours and my salary for the month dropped to only 480 RMB.

In the four months that I was there, my salary was paid over a week late on two occasions. I was not the only person who encountered this problem, as many members of the Chinese staff came to me and complained about not receiving the full salary they had been owed, or not being paid sometimes for months, sometimes a couple of weeks. There was a consistent pattern of carelessness and sometimes complete disregard for these employees. Additionally, there were two other foreigners that came to the school a couple of months after I began working there and they were told before coming that they would make 4,500 RMB during their first trial month before going up to 6,000 RMB. After a month of working there, however, they were told that the advertisement with 4,500 RMB was outdated and the new trial salary was only 4,000 RMB. While the two young partners of this school try to act laid back and casual about how unprofessional the school is, even making off-hand comments about not being perfect or professional, they do little to rectify the situation or communicate with their employees. There is no mature, long-term vision or consideration for other people.

I could go on about my gripes including not receiving my passport on time because one of the bosses didnt transfer the money that I paid to the visa middle-mans account until a week before my flight was set to depart the country (ended up having to pay 1000 RMB to change my flight and ran the risk of paying even more for staying there past my visa expiration) BUT, I think Ive said enough. I just hope my experience can be a lesson not only for those considering employment at BETC, but for anyone who encounters similar problems in China. Always read over your contract carefully, even if you are working short-term, insist on having a LEGAL visa, and be prepared to take care of yourself because you cant always rely on your employer to do so. (There are, however, many much more professional schools in China that will take care of most of these things without any problems.) Also, I would suggest that you make sure there is a penalty for either party (you or your employer) to terminate the contract early. (This should be standard at a qualified school.) Talk to your potential employer about your visa and about registering with the local police station before you arrive and get all of the details about the costs and logistics. There are so many great teaching opportunities in China, so make sure to do thorough research before you decide where to go!

Oh, just remembered, they also have a forged license to have foreign insctructors there. (So, unless they have obtained a legal license in the past couple of months, they actually can't technically hire foreigners legally!)

Good luck to all looking for a job or already teaching abroad!