[Editor's Note: As there is very little publised on ESL teaching in Laos we hope that this piece helps to shed light on the issue as we have received several e-mails asking about teaching in Laos.
The following may sound harsh but it is a realistic and honest description of the situation of how things are in the ESL Lao world as of 2004. Moreover, the sentiments and feelings expressed in the following by our contributor were also echoed by several other ESL teachers we had spoken to, all of whom had experience teaching in Laos (some had spent several years teaching in Laos). Therefore his sentiments are not unique to just himself.]
Yes we can.
One of our primary contributors worked as a foreign teacher in Laos
and the following is his response (all figures in USD$).
There's only
one 'high' paying school ($2000+/month). It's a school whose student
body are made of up children of parents who work with embassies
and NGOs and rich Lao people. It's the only accreditated international
school that offers grades through high school all in English. It
seems to have a predominantly Australian and American teaching staff.
It's also the most expensive school in all of Laos. It's quality
is questionable but it does have the high reputation. They offer
full perks that you expect anywhere, such as health insurance, flight
ticket, etc. You have to have full teaching credentials to work
at this school.
Now disregard
that school as it doesn't speak to the general situation of most
schools in Laos. Before I go further there is one other college in Vientiane that pays its ESL teachers in the $1000+/month mark.
Let's talk about all the other schools. The general
situation is:
DO NOT
expect any special perks in being an English Teacher (or
any other subject teacher) in Laos. There's no health insurance
or rarely a reimbursement with you flight ticket or anything else. Colleges and vocational schools pay on an hourly rate. Kindergarten/Primary
schools generally pay on a monthly salary. The foreigned
owned schools tend to pay better than Lao owned schools.
DO NOT
expect anything high paying. It's rare. There's only a
few that pay more than $10/hr and only two colleges that pays up
to $20/hr for particular subjects. Anything close to $10 and your
lucky. Even one of the most highly regarded English language college and
arguably one of the largest, rarely pays $10/hr. In this particular
case, it's a little bizarre.
Plus be weary, they're all really cheap. It sounds harsh but when you see that those involved with the schools are driving new cars, own big homes, it's hard to believe their claim of " only surviving".Getting a pay raise or
negotiating for any perks can be somewhat difficult. You may get
it but with great reluctance from the director. Many claim to be "just surviving", irrespective of the fact that they charge
some of the most expensive tuition or are one of the most populous
schools in the country.
Regarding schools
that pay monthly salary which are mostly kindergarten/primary schools:
At the time of this writing, there is only one school that pays
$800 (and only one other school that I first mentioned which pays
up to $2000+). Generally, most are in the $500-700. There was one school that was paying up to $1000 but as of recently
it has reduced new teacher's salary to $600-800. These salary figures
are quite low by foreign standards but livable in Laos (however
you cannot expect to save much). Colleges also pay on a monthly but based on hours worked. We've seen colleges range from $4-10/hr., with perhaps one other college that exceeds that mark.
Not to sound
pessimistic but this is the general situation in Laos. It's not
like teaching in China or Korea where there are tons of perks such
as housing, internet access, flight ticket, etc. In Laos, in most
cases you get almost no perks. In comparison with China and Thailand
where they also pay low but the amount of perks help to offset the
low pay. In Laos, they may pay for lunch and consider that a perk,
but even this is rare.
They all expect
you to put in your best as a teacher, while paying you low. In fact
there was one private business school in Vientiane that didn't pay
teachers at all! They wanted volunteers even though they charged
tuition. Suffice it to say that school has a lot of problems (and
I believe only recently started paying teachers). Additionally, there's a perception among school directors in Laos that
foreign teachers are too highly paid but in fact they are paid quite
low with the exception of perhaps three schools. And when
you consider there are virtually no perks, the deal begins to look
worse from the foreign teacher's point of view.
Not
all but many of the schools are also poorly run, have staffing problems
and low teacher retention - this includes the foreign owned schools
as well. It should be said that high teacher turnover is
typical all over the ESL teaching world. However some schools are worse than others in low teacher retention. Students complain how teachers change more frequently than anything else. Be weary of school directors
who will often make promises that they do not keep. Usually, the
people at the lower levels or other teachers offer the greatest
insight into what outstanding issues the school has. Before you
start working at a school, and you're in Vientiane, visit and investigate
and talk to those there. If you're not able to do that, you can
always ask for the contact info. of a previous/current teacher,
such as a phone number or e-mail.
You might be
wondering why I decided to teach in Laos at all, in spite of this
negative sounding situation. Keep in mind however that I was not
aware of any of this info. until I came to Laos myself and experienced
it and spoke to many people. My main reason
for going to Laos was because I wanted to see and explore the country for an
extended period of time. Thus having the job helped to pay for expenses
and bills in Laos and back home while exploring Lao culture. After
that wears thin, you begin to look elsewhere for better pay.
By
the way, there are contracts but these are not
strictly adhered to - in other words they're practically
worthless. You can get fired at any time and you can also
walk out on the job any time. Most schools show you a contract
simply as a lure to show foreign teachers a modest level of professionalism.
You'll also noticed that when you sign a contract there are a lot
of blank spaces. Believe it or not, some schools expect you to sign
while keeping blanks which they later fill in.
My recommendation
is that if you're looking just to teach English and make money then
choose another country. But if you want to explore Lao culture and
Laos itself then definitely getting a teaching position would be
nice to help with expenses. Teachers are definitely needed in Laos
but whether or not you can put up with low pay is up to you. The
abundance of applications to the good paying schools means that
getting a job at one of those schools is somewhat difficult.
Further, do make
sure that you enjoy teaching. I admit I ended up falling in love with
teaching in Laos (though I disliked the low pay) and the students
are mostly quite good at all levels and are very respectful. I taught at both the primary
and college levels. The students really helped to make teaching a
pleasurable experience. When I was down or work really got to me,
my students became the primary aspect that I looked forward to at
work - satisfaction of teaching them, seeing their bright faces and having good laughs with them. I sincerely miss all my students.
[Editor's Note: Many indicated that one can occassionally find work teaching English with an NGO who may have an English teaching program or private tutoring which both reportedly pay well. You may also try, the single University in Laos. There are numerous volunteer teaching positions in Laos with charity organizations and schools.]
