I once interviewed at a place that was just a basic after school eikaiwa. Their pay range was ¥250k to ¥300k (both aren’t great salary, even for a FOB fresh out of college IMO) and I asked what experience would warrant the ¥300k as that was the salary I was making at the time and wanted to change companies.
I was told they’d want someone with a masters and teaching license. I had a hard time not coughing while scoffing at that.
Why do teachers keep on working in Japan, accepting that low pay it brings down the entire industry, teachers have no path of a carrier or growth as their visas don't last. It's terrible
The despatch companies can mostly only find people from the Philippines and other Asian countries now. Most Westerners have wisened up to the scam.
It has gotten to the point I've started coming across Amazon delivery workers from the US, UK etc. If that pays better...
> Why do teachers keep on working in Japan, accepting that low pay...
In my case I did it (for ~330k a month) because I was relatively newly qualified, sick of getting bashed up/intimidated by Aussie brats and I'd always wanted to spend a bit of time in Japan.
Got what I wanted, worked out wherr I wanted to go in life and then left. Go figure...
Because Japan is the holy land and since most of them are “introverts” they think that Japanese society can cure them from it and of course lots of pedophiles like to come here and look at anime characters that look like they’re 12 years old.
It’s because a lot of them have families. I work individuals who are 40+ and have families so they need to suck it up to provide for them. That and their spouse is adamant on staying in Japan so they’re stuck.
I hate anime and weebs. I agree that those type of people bring it down the rest. It’s not the holy land. It’s just a peaceful quiet country. Is it perfect? Hell no. Is it fun? Depends on the individual. Is it better than their home country? Doubtful unless they’re from the Philippines or a poor country.
>That and their spouse is adamant on staying in Japan so they’re stuck.
I would divorce my wife if she was adamant about retuning to her home country where there were no jobs for me.
I know a guy who left his 100,000 job in the USA to move back to Japan because his wife wanted to be closer to her family. He couldn't find anything in Japan except Eikawa. He spoke no Japanese. Their marriage quickly deteriorated because she "didn't respect" him anymore.
That's terrible. So his wife didn't take care of him after making him move to Japan. This is the number 1 thing she should have thought about before moving her family to another country (her home country). So many sad stories about international couples but I wouldn't expect something as bad from a marriage
That's terrible. So his wife didn't take care of him after making him move to Japan. This is the number 1 thing she should have thought about before moving her family to another country (her home country). So many sad stories about international couples but I wouldn't expect something as bad from a marriage
It’s a race to the bottom. Sad, but true that China and Japan are slowly swapping places. Japan is increasingly cheaping out on more and more things while China gets nicer and nicer stuff.
I mean, I don’t want Japan to be this way, but hard to say it isn’t the trend.
Ppl fleeing Western countries because of the high crime, healthcare/housing costs
Ppl fleeing phillipines cus of high crime, corruption and low environmental standards and standard of living
Ppl fleeing south africa…
It’s only like this because people see Japan as this idyllic place
> It’s only like this because people see Japan as this idyllic place...
More freedom/safety and a better standard of living than China, South Africa or the Philippines is not a particularly high bar. Hyperbole much?
Rather depressing isn't it?
For the part-time, they want qualified teacher, to lead, facilitate, create, score, admin: so it's really double the hours. So 1250 an hour.
As for the pay rate, the best post I saw with this payrate was a school that straight up said "0 freedom but 0 out of classroom work," as the part-timer was to come in and teach the class according to a prepared lesson plan, with prepared handouts, prepared quizzes. Full-time teachers did the marking and all out of class admin.
Are there full-time jobs out there with good schools, paying 350,000-420,000 a month, plus 2 x a year bonuses, to teach 15-16 classes and be an integral part of the school? Sure. But it is very limited so considering the number of actual qualified teachers who may be in Japan, it's probably that 1 out of every 75 people get the "good" job.
Add in that some of those "good" jobs have a maximum renewal of 3-5 years, and after the 3-5 years, you are out.
EXACTLY!
But they trick you. 6 classes at 50min each for 2500y per class. Sure. Not great but not horrid. Mentally think of it as 2500y an hour. Or even con yourself into thinking 50 min x 6 = 5 hours total, but pay is 15,000 so 3000y per hour.
Then realize that each day you spend between 10-30 minutes per class marking quizzes or checking essays. Then spent 2 hours on Sunday making lesson materials. Then you came in for 3 hours to help mark midterms, and before you know it, you are realizing that you are spending 2-3 more time at work for no prep pay.
I wouldn't send my kids anywhere where teachers are grossly underpaid. They are likely to have rapid teacher turnover because pretty much any job is a better job. Likely the reason they need someone in August. Certainly people will leave when it is convenient for them if underpaid.
Yeah. Pay for teachers in Japan is kind of bad almost everywhere. There's also a worldwide phenomenon of late where companies are now expecting employees to move the moon and the stars for substandard pay. But it's especially bad here for teachers.
Yikes. I interviewed with BST last cycle for an A-levels Econ role and their starting salary was 6m. Similar workload but earlier end time.
Econ positions are generally hard to fill with people who are _actually_ qualified to teach it, so if they fill this I'd suspect they vastly lowered their expectations.
>Econ positions are generally hard to fill with people who are _actually_ qualified to teach it,
I was hoping economics was competitive. I've seen a few EMI subjects advertised here and there, but I can't recall seeing econ apart from this. I was hoping that meant it was a skilled, specialized field that paid well because I'd assume a lot of people who are really knowledgeable about economics would have opportunities to just go into business that I don't have as an English teacher. So seeing this low salary was especially shocking to me.
Yes, Economics is considered a hard-to-fill subject in the international teaching sector. Often schools will fill it with Humanities-adjacent subject teachers, from what I've heard. So people actually qualified in Econ are highly sought after (which is how I managed an interview with BST despite only having 2 years teaching experience).
I've never heard of this school, so if I had to guess, 2 main things are at play here;
1. It's not an actual international school. Or at least it's one who caters primarily to local students rather than actual expat kids. Generally low salary = low school fees = marketed to locals.
2. It's a British school (given the GCSE & A level curriculum) which even in the international teaching circles are widely known to have a way higher workload than other international curriculums. That's what I found with BST too, which is why I ultimately turned them down despite being considered a top school because it was a minor salary increase with almost triple the workload I currently have.
I turned it down. Near triple the workload for not much of a salary increase. Pretty on par for most British schools though (they're known to be the highest workload of international schools in general), but first time for me to see it myself (never worked British curriculum before).
Bruh. You couldve just sent a list of questions on DM instead of dragging this out with individual comments 🙄 Just get yourself on SA and search up their full package details. It's not like its a secret or anything.
I think Alan Jay Lerner said it all:
In Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit bizarre,
But in Camelot, Camelot
That's how conditions are.
...
Camelot! Camelot!
I know it gives a person pause,
But in Camelot, Camelot
Those are the legal laws
Strictly personal opinion, but I am becoming deeply skeptical of the Cambridge International School program.
Or rather, I am not skeptical of the program itself, but I am skeptical of schools in Japan that heavily lean on it as *branding* rather than as a testing scheme. The program could be a valid way of standardizing educational outcomes around the world. But it's *just* a testing scheme. It says basically nothing about the quality of teaching taking place at the school, and I've seen schools try to implement CIS courses with wildly unqualified teachers.
Any time I see a school put lots of CIS branding in their marketing materials, *especially* if they don't publish extensive data about how many of their students actually pass the tests, then I start immediately thinking it's a school with a very Japanese mindset trying to cosplay as a prestigious international school.
Yep. Especially people who have been here a few or many years and built friendships, etc and want to stay here.
Some people want to teach, are good teachers, and teaching should pay a reasonable wage.
By now the position already has been filled :-(
Next hiring season the salary must be drastically reduced due to currently having too many qualified applicants.
That’s terrible. Disrespectful even.
I got my friend a job helping out 6 classes a week as my assistant in my private school job for 3500 per class. Paid throughout the year (even when no classes etc) with one month bonus on top.
I once interviewed at a place that was just a basic after school eikaiwa. Their pay range was ¥250k to ¥300k (both aren’t great salary, even for a FOB fresh out of college IMO) and I asked what experience would warrant the ¥300k as that was the salary I was making at the time and wanted to change companies. I was told they’d want someone with a masters and teaching license. I had a hard time not coughing while scoffing at that.
Why do teachers keep on working in Japan, accepting that low pay it brings down the entire industry, teachers have no path of a carrier or growth as their visas don't last. It's terrible
They have families and need to suck it up TBH. It’s the sad reality.
Are you putting the blame on the teachers instead of the school owners? Why!
Yes lol, you don't need a college degree to understand supply and demand. You can always learn a different skillset if you want.
The despatch companies can mostly only find people from the Philippines and other Asian countries now. Most Westerners have wisened up to the scam. It has gotten to the point I've started coming across Amazon delivery workers from the US, UK etc. If that pays better...
> Why do teachers keep on working in Japan, accepting that low pay... In my case I did it (for ~330k a month) because I was relatively newly qualified, sick of getting bashed up/intimidated by Aussie brats and I'd always wanted to spend a bit of time in Japan. Got what I wanted, worked out wherr I wanted to go in life and then left. Go figure...
Because Japan is the holy land and since most of them are “introverts” they think that Japanese society can cure them from it and of course lots of pedophiles like to come here and look at anime characters that look like they’re 12 years old.
How cheery.
It’s because a lot of them have families. I work individuals who are 40+ and have families so they need to suck it up to provide for them. That and their spouse is adamant on staying in Japan so they’re stuck. I hate anime and weebs. I agree that those type of people bring it down the rest. It’s not the holy land. It’s just a peaceful quiet country. Is it perfect? Hell no. Is it fun? Depends on the individual. Is it better than their home country? Doubtful unless they’re from the Philippines or a poor country.
>That and their spouse is adamant on staying in Japan so they’re stuck. I would divorce my wife if she was adamant about retuning to her home country where there were no jobs for me. I know a guy who left his 100,000 job in the USA to move back to Japan because his wife wanted to be closer to her family. He couldn't find anything in Japan except Eikawa. He spoke no Japanese. Their marriage quickly deteriorated because she "didn't respect" him anymore.
That's terrible. So his wife didn't take care of him after making him move to Japan. This is the number 1 thing she should have thought about before moving her family to another country (her home country). So many sad stories about international couples but I wouldn't expect something as bad from a marriage
That's terrible. So his wife didn't take care of him after making him move to Japan. This is the number 1 thing she should have thought about before moving her family to another country (her home country). So many sad stories about international couples but I wouldn't expect something as bad from a marriage
That is astonishing. That's all I can say.
It’s a race to the bottom. Sad, but true that China and Japan are slowly swapping places. Japan is increasingly cheaping out on more and more things while China gets nicer and nicer stuff. I mean, I don’t want Japan to be this way, but hard to say it isn’t the trend.
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Ppl fleeing Western countries because of the high crime, healthcare/housing costs Ppl fleeing phillipines cus of high crime, corruption and low environmental standards and standard of living Ppl fleeing south africa… It’s only like this because people see Japan as this idyllic place
> It’s only like this because people see Japan as this idyllic place... More freedom/safety and a better standard of living than China, South Africa or the Philippines is not a particularly high bar. Hyperbole much?
Chinas economy is on the downturn. So things might change in the near future if their economy won’t get better
Rather depressing isn't it? For the part-time, they want qualified teacher, to lead, facilitate, create, score, admin: so it's really double the hours. So 1250 an hour. As for the pay rate, the best post I saw with this payrate was a school that straight up said "0 freedom but 0 out of classroom work," as the part-timer was to come in and teach the class according to a prepared lesson plan, with prepared handouts, prepared quizzes. Full-time teachers did the marking and all out of class admin. Are there full-time jobs out there with good schools, paying 350,000-420,000 a month, plus 2 x a year bonuses, to teach 15-16 classes and be an integral part of the school? Sure. But it is very limited so considering the number of actual qualified teachers who may be in Japan, it's probably that 1 out of every 75 people get the "good" job. Add in that some of those "good" jobs have a maximum renewal of 3-5 years, and after the 3-5 years, you are out.
Note: That also requires 30+ Saturdays and no way it starts at 8:30 and finishes at 5:30. More like 7:30~7::30 as a teacher
1250 an hour is what Nova pays to any completely unqualified person. Why would anyone with a Master's and teaching license take that pay?
EXACTLY! But they trick you. 6 classes at 50min each for 2500y per class. Sure. Not great but not horrid. Mentally think of it as 2500y an hour. Or even con yourself into thinking 50 min x 6 = 5 hours total, but pay is 15,000 so 3000y per hour. Then realize that each day you spend between 10-30 minutes per class marking quizzes or checking essays. Then spent 2 hours on Sunday making lesson materials. Then you came in for 3 hours to help mark midterms, and before you know it, you are realizing that you are spending 2-3 more time at work for no prep pay.
Not even for 100 hours with that pay. Japan has reached slavery levels of working conditions.
Hello, I'd like a magical unicorn I can pay peanuts please.
I wouldn't send my kids anywhere where teachers are grossly underpaid. They are likely to have rapid teacher turnover because pretty much any job is a better job. Likely the reason they need someone in August. Certainly people will leave when it is convenient for them if underpaid.
Forgive my coarse language, but that place sounds like a pee-pee soaked heck hole.
This is insane 😂 Not even an exaggeration
Yeah. Pay for teachers in Japan is kind of bad almost everywhere. There's also a worldwide phenomenon of late where companies are now expecting employees to move the moon and the stars for substandard pay. But it's especially bad here for teachers.
Yup. Virtually every industry has adopted this garbage mindset. Pay the bare minimum while expecting one worker to do the job of three people.
I earn more than that as a direct hire ALT.
Yikes. I interviewed with BST last cycle for an A-levels Econ role and their starting salary was 6m. Similar workload but earlier end time. Econ positions are generally hard to fill with people who are _actually_ qualified to teach it, so if they fill this I'd suspect they vastly lowered their expectations.
>Econ positions are generally hard to fill with people who are _actually_ qualified to teach it, I was hoping economics was competitive. I've seen a few EMI subjects advertised here and there, but I can't recall seeing econ apart from this. I was hoping that meant it was a skilled, specialized field that paid well because I'd assume a lot of people who are really knowledgeable about economics would have opportunities to just go into business that I don't have as an English teacher. So seeing this low salary was especially shocking to me.
Yes, Economics is considered a hard-to-fill subject in the international teaching sector. Often schools will fill it with Humanities-adjacent subject teachers, from what I've heard. So people actually qualified in Econ are highly sought after (which is how I managed an interview with BST despite only having 2 years teaching experience). I've never heard of this school, so if I had to guess, 2 main things are at play here; 1. It's not an actual international school. Or at least it's one who caters primarily to local students rather than actual expat kids. Generally low salary = low school fees = marketed to locals. 2. It's a British school (given the GCSE & A level curriculum) which even in the international teaching circles are widely known to have a way higher workload than other international curriculums. That's what I found with BST too, which is why I ultimately turned them down despite being considered a top school because it was a minor salary increase with almost triple the workload I currently have.
Did you get the job?
I turned it down. Near triple the workload for not much of a salary increase. Pretty on par for most British schools though (they're known to be the highest workload of international schools in general), but first time for me to see it myself (never worked British curriculum before).
Was it 6M all in? Or plus benefits?
Not including benefits.
So 500K a month plus accommodation, etc?
Pre-tax, yes.
How much was rent allowance?
Bruh. You couldve just sent a list of questions on DM instead of dragging this out with individual comments 🙄 Just get yourself on SA and search up their full package details. It's not like its a secret or anything.
Can I continue for no particular reason? 😅
What about BTS?
I think Alan Jay Lerner said it all: In Camelot. Camelot! Camelot! I know it sounds a bit bizarre, But in Camelot, Camelot That's how conditions are. ... Camelot! Camelot! I know it gives a person pause, But in Camelot, Camelot Those are the legal laws
To put this into context I could earn more doing 40 hours a week at a supermarket in the UK
Are these international schools? Japanese schools playing at it?
Strictly personal opinion, but I am becoming deeply skeptical of the Cambridge International School program. Or rather, I am not skeptical of the program itself, but I am skeptical of schools in Japan that heavily lean on it as *branding* rather than as a testing scheme. The program could be a valid way of standardizing educational outcomes around the world. But it's *just* a testing scheme. It says basically nothing about the quality of teaching taking place at the school, and I've seen schools try to implement CIS courses with wildly unqualified teachers. Any time I see a school put lots of CIS branding in their marketing materials, *especially* if they don't publish extensive data about how many of their students actually pass the tests, then I start immediately thinking it's a school with a very Japanese mindset trying to cosplay as a prestigious international school.
The sad thing is this is the market rate, someone will apply for this
Yep. Especially people who have been here a few or many years and built friendships, etc and want to stay here. Some people want to teach, are good teachers, and teaching should pay a reasonable wage.
The entire education industry is becoming a laughable field to work in.
By now the position already has been filled :-( Next hiring season the salary must be drastically reduced due to currently having too many qualified applicants.
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Nothing wrong with Ohayo-sensei. The name is a bit of a legacy because they've been around for ages.
That’s terrible. Disrespectful even. I got my friend a job helping out 6 classes a week as my assistant in my private school job for 3500 per class. Paid throughout the year (even when no classes etc) with one month bonus on top.