Shenzhen has launched its first training program for foreign teachers, amid complaints that some lack proper qualifications.

 

Thirty foreign teachers from public and private schools attended the first class of the eight-day TEFL (Teaching English as A Foreign Language) In China program that started Saturday at the Elite World building in Futian District.

 

The program, co-sponsored by the China Association for International Exchange of Personnel and Shenzhen Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, will introduce teaching skills and Chinese laws to attendees, who each have to pay 4,000 yuan (US$513) for tuition fees and food.

 

The lecturers are TEFL master's degree holders selected worldwide. Graduates will receive a TEFL certificate that may help them land teaching jobs in China, according to the program's organizers.

 

The aim of the program is to improve the quality of foreign teachers, Zhou Jintao, a senior official of the municipal bureau of personnel, said Saturday.

 

"There are some problems with the quality of foreign teachers (in the city). Some schools hire foreign teachers without qualifications or experience, and some have strong accents, which resulted in complaints from students," said Zhou.

 

Zhou expects the TEFL program to be held frequently. "Eventually we hope all foreign teachers will hold a TEFL certificate," he said.

 

There are more than 500 registered foreign teachers in Shenzhen. The actual number could far surpass that as some are teaching here with tourism visas or on a part-time basis. Apart from the 103 teachers hired by the municipal education bureau for public schools, few hold a TEFL certificate, according to a source with the education bureau.

 

The demand for qualified foreign teachers is increasing rapidly, said Feng Jian of the administration of foreign experts affairs. Even most kindergartens have foreign teachers because parents would not send their children to a kindergarten without foreign teachers, she said.

 

The administration of foreign experts affairs plans to hold a job fair for foreign teachers within the year, she said, without giving a date.

 

The State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs is negotiating with US and British universities on an intern program, through which senior students majoring in TEFL will come to China to work at schools. The interns will be sent to various cities, including Shenzhen.

 

Foreigners are now required to have a bachelor's degree and at least two years' experience in the related field before they are allowed to teach in Shenzhen.

 

(Shenzhen Daily January 22, 2007)