As a former teacher I'd like to comment on the status at KIS Shenzhen. I worked there for a month and a half. My first payday the principal told me they didn't have enough money to pay the teachers salaries. It was being sent from Korea because the school operates at a loss. He wasn't sure they were telling the truth. At that point I decided if they don't take their contractual obligation to pay and on time seriously I wasn't going to work there anymore. A month and a half after the end of June I was paid for June. I gave him notice I was leaving. At that point the principal, who says that he hates Americans, got vindictive and wrote me to say that they weren't going to pay me for the half of July I worked. At the same time another teacher who was leaving said it was because of pay problems and they had often been late.

There are other problems with the school. Many of the students are rather unmotivated or have a difficult time because of their English level. Some go there so they can collect allowance from their Korean parents and really have little interest in studying. Some are poor students and some are good students. But as for teaching science there are no facilities. There is no AV equipment. For lower level students such as many of these whose English isn't great lecture just isn't a good way to teach. But of course the school has no money for the right equipment. An interesting experience was when a class who could add resistance values in parallel and series asked me what a resistor was. They learn to manipulate symbols but have no conceptual idea of what they're dealing with. It's a shame because there were some students who are smart and would do well.

The school pays more than an English training center but not as much as a real international school. I suggest that they have an entrance exam which would solve some discipline problems. But these schools are really businesses and they had so few students they couldn't turn any away unless and until they became too big a problem.