EPIK requires teachers to front costs of their own orientation with two weeks' warning, according to mistaken recruiter.

Update: The EPIK Coordinator has refuted this information, saying it's misinformation circulated by recruiters. See the comments for more information, and stay tuned for a follow-up post. The original title has also been changed to reflect a more moderate tone.

Jacob of ROK Sojourn passes along some emails concerning English Program in Korea [EPIK], the government program that places native speaker English teachers in Korean public schools. This one is from a recruiter, and in short it says that EPIK will no longer be providing transportation from Incheon to the orientation site, and that teachers will have to front the entire cost of their week-long orientation. This is posted to Dave's ESL Cafe as well:

Airport Arrival Information

February 17th Arrival Information – The EPIK office is going to have a booth set up at the airport between 7:00am – 11:00pm on February 17th. Gone2Korea will also have a number of staff members (Kirk & Sharon) at the airport to assist teachers with the check in and registration process. The shuttle bus service will be available between the hours of 7:30am and 11:00pm.

Teachers who are working for one of the following POE’s should be arriving on the 17th: Busan, Gwangju, Ulsan, Jeonbuk, Gyeongbuk and Gyeongnam. The orientation will take place at Jeonju National University in Jeonju city.

Please refer to the attachment (February 17th - Arrival & Shuttle Bus Details) document for complete details.

February 18th Arrival Information (IMPORTANT) – We regret to inform teachers who are arriving on the 18th that the EPIK office has recently cancelled the shuttle bus and sign-in service at the airport (we have no idea why they cancelled it - sorry). Alternatively, the EPIK office has provided a document which explains how and where teachers need to go in order to get to the orientation site. Gone2Korea is going to have staff (Kirk & Sharon) at the airport between 7:30am – 10:00pm to help teachers out. We are going to coordinate an easily accessible meeting place in the coming week; we’ll also give out some phone numbers for people to use in case they have difficulties finding us. Note: Most signage at Incheon airport is written in English and Korean so you shouldn’t have any difficulties maneuvering the airport.

Teachers who are working for one of the following POE’s should be arriving on the 17th: Incheon, Daejeon, Daegu, Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Jeju and Chungbuk. The orientation will take place at Eulji University in Seongnam (Sungnam) city which is located just outside of Seoul.

Please refer to the attachment (February 18th – Arrival Details & Directions) document for complete details.



Orientation Fees (NEW)

We regret to inform all teachers (for both orientation sites) that EPIK is no longer going to cover all of the costs associated with the arrival and orientation periods. We apologize for the discouraging news but we were just notified of the changes ourselves.

Why are they making teachers pay for some of the costs this semester? We’re not entirely sure but if we had to guess it’s likely because they’ve gone over their budget and cannot afford to cover all the costs this semester. Previously (past semesters) everything was covered so this is a recent change in policy and/or a budget issue. Please refer to the information below to view fees specific to your orientation site/arrival date.

A. EPIK Orientation in Jeonju (Feb. 17~26)

1) Accommodation per day: 22,000won
2) A meal: 5,000won
3) Field trip fee: 20,000won
4) Welcoming Dinner: 25,000won
5) Farewell Dinner: 25,000won

B. EPIK Orientation in Sungnam (Feb. 18~26)

1) Accommodation per day: 20,000won
2) A meal: 5,000won
3) Field trip fee: 20,000won
4) Welcoming Dinner: 25,000won
5) Farewell Dinner: 25,000won

All teachers (February 17th and 18th arrival dates) – All teachers will be provided with two allowance schemes. The first is a settlement allowance of 300,000 won and the second is an entrance allowance of 1.3 million won. Both allowances are in place to help teachers cover the costs they have incurred for airfare and visa related expenses in addition to the new fees which have been outlines above.

· Settlement Allowance – 300,000 Won
· Entrance Allowance – 1,300,000 Won
Bringing enough money with you to get settled – EPIK recommends that all teachers bring 1,000,000 won – 1,500,000 won with them; however, 800,000 won – 1,000,000 won is usually sufficient. Note: It’s always wise to bring a little extra in case some unexpected expenses arise before your first pay day; therefore, if you’re able to bring a little more than the recommended amount then please do so. (Currency converter: http://www.xe.com/)"

If in fact EPIK has gone over budget and is cutting costs, this is certainly the last area they should be doing it. Didn't we just read a couple months ago about a lawmaker talking about the need for government-mandated orientation programs? What sort of first impression is EPIK making when they can't even pick people up at the airport and can't come up with a few hundred dollars to make sure their investments are acclimated and trained?

This email comes out just two weeks before teachers are to fly to Korea. There are no doubt teachers who would find work elsewhere if they knew when they applied that they'd be fronting orientation costs. This sudden decision likely violates at least unwritten agreements---insofar as Koreans even honor these in the first place---and goes against the assumptions teachers made that they'd be provided orientation. This decision would be somewhat palatable if these hidden costs weren't presented at the last possible moment, after arrangements for a year or more abroad had been made and airplane tickets already bought.

Over the course of about a year, public schools in Korea have gone from about the best place to work to the worst. They were always considered more reliable than cram schools (학원) because they were operated by the government, however policy over the past year, and plenty of anecdotal evidence has demonstrated that these jobs are just as risky---perhaps moreso because of increased expectations---than a properly-vetted hagwon. Korean lawmakers and reporters bitch and bitch and bitch about "unqualified" teachers and about the need to bring in higher quality teachers, whatever that means. Many of us have pointed out, as I did in a June 26th Korea Herald article, that Korea doesn't recognized "qualifications" and certainly isn't ready to pay for them, but this takes it to a new level. Not only will recent college graduates not come to Korea---they can't afford the start-up costs associated with public schools---but older, experienced teachers won't choose Korea either because they don't want to travel halfway around the world just to get hassled and swindled.

This move, in tandem with Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's [SMOE] decision last year to cut 100 native speaker English teacher jobs just days before teachers were to fly here, rightfully perpetuates the stereotype of shady Korean school operators, and further damages Korea's reputation in the eyes of teachers already here and those loooking to come. If South Korea no longer wants to use native speaker English teachers in public schools, why not just come out and fucking say it?