Thank you for continuing to post these dates. I can't make the one in March but am very interested in any that might occur in June or July.
Just a few comments, for those who might like to think about teaching here. With university degrees, and a teaching qualification, a person could work full-time in private preparatory high schools/universities or state universities here, and make enough to live reasonably comfortably. Outside those categories, pay can be disappointing; for example, a part time teacher in a state university might get paid as little as 120 pesos per class hour. If you were offered a part time job teaching English in a local high school or elementary school, you might be paid less than half that much.* Commercial language schools pay about the same as the state universities, at the top end, with others paying less. As low as the pay is, I've met a number of teachers, long-term expats, who work as teachers and are quite happy with their life, here. Having a degree will help you get those jobs which require one; and, if you don't already have a teaching certificate and want to teach English, you could consider one rather quick, if expensive, way to get a qualification. There are month long intensive teacher's courses leading to a certification to teach English. (This has nothing to do with the CENNI testing and certification that is the subject of this thread.) If you'd like to know more about them, here's an example of such a training program, nearby- TEFL / TESOL course in Mexico *I'm aware there are people whose requirements for income from work is low enough to allow them to seriously consider teaching English in the local schools, when openings occur. The quality of training in English for the children of Mexico is low: many of the teachers cannot really be said to speak English, themselves. With pay not a serious consideration, a person could make a difference to the lives of some young people in the public schools of Quintana Roo. Alternatively, a qualified teacher of English as a Foreign Language could come here and arrange, with the assistance of the S.E.Q., to teach classes for the local English teachers, largely as a service, but some compensation could be arranged.
Thank you. I have a Masters here in the States in Elementary and Special Education and have 2 more years until retirement. We already own a home in PDC. It would certainly be an option as I couldn't sit around and do absolutely nothing. I also have a certificate for TESOL
I have a number of close friends working here as teachers in private schools. Without exception they aren't happy with the amount they make. But most of them have some kind of other income, or are independently wealthy, and so they are content to teach here even though the pay isn't good.
Teacher's pay Can you tell us what your friends say they're paid? Some people don't need as much to be happy, as others; and, without some numbers, people can't judge what would be the case for them.
In an effort to learn more, I've begun to directly ask what people are making, among those I know, and what others in their system may make. [I will be editing this information, as I learn more.] In state universities I've been told full-time teachers are paid from 18,000 pesos/month (bachelors degree, novice teacher: information twice confirmed) to 28,000 pesos/month (master's degree and many years experience: one source). At university, full-time is 12 contact hours/week, typically. Then, in addition to teaching duties, you've got class prep, administrative, and special project work to add to your work day, which ends up being 40 hours of work, or so, per week; but, in very good working conditions, with respectable pay, for Mexico! Private prepartory schools and universities may pay foreigners something in the 15-16,000 pesos/month range (two sources). There may be a pattern present, not just in the private sector but perhaps even more so in the public sector, of paying foreigners working in the system less than is paid Mexicans, and offering fewer benefits. One person I've spoken with said they were paid just under 100 pesos/hour, working at a language school. You would have to hussle to earn 10,000 pesos/month, at that rate, though some did (I'll explain, below). _____________________ The picture changed when the economic crisis bit deeply, starting last May: there were suddenly a lot fewer jobs, and fewer teaching hours available for those who had jobs, in the private sector. That remains the situation, as I understand it. Occasional opportunities exist in the hotel zone, and I know of one teacher who went to work there, full-time, on a short term contract, this high season. As for university, private preparatory schools, and other relatively higher paying jobs, those who have them typically hang on to them, making openings for full-time rare; not only that, these jobs will tend to be preferentially awarded to Mexican citizens, though you see exceptions; part-time work becomes available as enrollment fluctuates, or teachers are moved to other assignments than teaching, so it's a chance event for your availability to coincide with a job opening, unless, like me, you're here all the time; but, then, part-time work raises another problem. If you work only part-time, an employer may not be willing to sponsor you to obtain official permission to work, here: in that case, you could offer to pay the costs of obtaining permission (about 2,500 pesos in official fees), if they would sponsor you, but they may still not be willing to. The problem for them becomes the restriction on hiring: employers may have no more than 10% foreigners on their staffs, generally speaking (Mexican Law). Language schools seem to be able to work around this, to a degree, given their unique position of being in the business of offering English Language training, for which native speakers may be desireable, but it remains an issue. A number of people free-lance, giving private lessons, without permission of immigration, but this risks deportation, if discovered. It is possible to apply for, and receive, permission to teach English independently which, if granted, solves this problem. How unusual this may be I haven't determined, but over the last five years or so, only two on this forum have reported being granted that status, one of them outside the English teaching field (so it may not count for this discussion).
