Tanya,

Your facts are on the money, but it is hard to tell what you are getting at with your narrative, and it seems that you're inadvertently playing for the wrong side. I am not attacking you here, but you seem to speak as if qualified teachers would be treated differently. Well, believe it or not, qualified teachers have the same value to most schools as total imposters do. These businesses are not prepared to dish out better treatment or compensation, and they really do love their revolving door staffing strategy. It is a dealer's game and the school owners are the dealers.

No matter what the industry, dropping the wage (or letting it stagnate) hardly helps to attract higher caliber talent. Paying a living wage allows one to transparently discriminate against the unqualified, and rightfully so. The hardest hit here are the qualified teachers. That a terrible wage may or may not suit travelers just looking for beer money, is not exactly a matter of relevance to said teachers.

This is not a chicken and egg problem. Nor are the schools the victims. (Some of these schools charge students 500/hour for 1 to 1 classes).

The schools are not crappy due to being ground down by unqualified FTs. As you mentioned, they only want a white face and a pulse.

Good jobs attract talent. That talent is not in Kunming, but in Korea, Taiwan, UAE, Spain, Japan, and to a lesser extent in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, because that is where the jobs are.

That talent would come here if serious positions were offered. Only the universities come anywhere close to offering anything, and when they do, the pay is quite low (though I still think it is a good gig.) The jobs aren't here and it is not the the fault of the teachers, the schools and other factors (local/provincial economy) are the generative side of this dialectic.

There is nothing wrong with teachers having higher standards.

ps. 150 is low now

Hey, I have heard that all electric scooters in Kunming must be registered before January 1st, or be confiscated.

I have also heard that registering is so hard that most local people have chosen to simply sell their e-bikes to people in nearby towns.

Is this for real?

I am pretty worried about this, I have sunk plenty of money into my e-bike but didn't know I needed to register it, as I thought (judging by how people drive them) that they aren't really legally vehicles.

Obviously they should be considered vehicles, and I am pretty happy that there will be less on the road, as I hate the way that most of the e-bike drivers drive. Usually they are even more reckless than the cars on the road. But I want to keep driving me e-bike, and I honestly don't think I could handle my hectic schedule if I had to bike or bus (though if we could reliably and safely take our bikes on the bus that would be OK).

So, any feedback? Is it possible to register?

In China: 50 to 500 per hour.
In Kunming: 80 to 250 rmb per hour, with most positions paying between 100 and 200.

Lots of schools are still paying 100. There have already been threads on GoKM about this. I have made comments, and it seems that the majority of teachers think 150rmb should be the bottom, especially if there is no housing/visa/ticket included, and if the teacher is qualified.

The teaching situation in Kunming is great for newbie or unqualified teachers, the extremely frugal, or for those who mostly live from their bank accounts. There is a big demand for teachers. Otherwise, the prospects are pretty grim compared to most of China's second tier cities.

gokunming.com/en/classifieds/item/18439/ielts_teacher

I don't know her, but she sounds like an awesome teacher!

Educated at one of the top universities in the world, experienced, and successful. Nobody needs to mention that the IELTS is a very important test.
Why is she only making 100/120 rmb?

She's worth more than that, in my opinion.

@Tanyaod

The problem is precisely that the schools want to get more than they are willing to pay for. They are getting it, too.

While the schools may be willing to settle for just a pretty face, most of them do want and do advertise for qualified teachers.

Schools literally hound me precisely because they believe me to be qualified and experienced, yet most of them never offer more than newbie level compensation.

As for newbies themselves, the schools could always actually invest in them by training them, but that is not the game. So it seems like a mistake to blame the teachers here, even the bad ones.

Anyway, I haven't noticed too many fake teacher hobos on the 1 dui 1 circuit in Kunming.

@ Prd34 Yes the more qualified teachers deserve more. This is a biggie.

@ ET Those schools are paying 2004 wages, I believe.

@Merzai It is not really a starting rate, as you will never get a raise or a promotion, that is a big problem with this industry. I mean, I bet when you look around there, you don't see any older teachers in higher positions training new fish like you.

And some positions do pay for prep time. Either way, it should be considered in the salary negotiation, because it is work. You should know that you can bargain, no need to accept the first offer.
Office hours are a scam, they are keeping you on hand for other reasons. I don't recommend taking a job with such a requirement, but if you do, you should be getting paid just the same as for teaching hours.

If you want to teach, I think you should actually go after it, educate yourself, and get training.

In any case, I think newbies should demand higher salaries too, since this forces them into contention with more qualified teachers-which both puts pressure on newbies to improve quickly, and detracts from the downward pull on the salaries of qualified teachers.

This might sound strange at first, but remember that there is no promotional or training scheme for the newbie teacher at most schools. It is all stacked against them. They can go get certifications, but then they still have to get the experience.

I know that, regarding teaching, I learned more from experience, other teachers, and my own research/ reading, than from my certification course or from my university education.

@ All

IMO:
At schools, don't accept low salaries. If you don't deserve a good salary, you don't deserve the job.
For private teaching, newbie teachers could charge lower rates like 100 or 120 as long as they don't call themselves qualified teachers. Qualified teachers should charge 150 and up.