Qualify and reap the rewards

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Published: 12:00am, 19 Jan 2002

I am an expatriate English teacher in a Guangdong secondary school. I am a university graduate and trained in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), but have no other teaching qualification. I'm interested in moving to Hong Kong. Could you advise what qualifications I need to become a native English-speaking teacher (NET) and how I could obtain these from here.

Education Post Editor Katherine Forestier responds: The Education Department requires NET teachers to be graduates, preferably in language-related subjects. It is not necessary to hold a post-graduate diploma or certificate (PGDE or PGCE) in education or equivalent if you have a TEFL-type qualification. But there is a great difference in remuneration. NET teachers with a PGDE or PGCE can earn up to $46,485 a month while the TEFL-trained teacher cannot proceed beyond $22,075.

There are various one-year full-time and two-year part-time PGDE or PGCE courses expatriates can join.

Mark Bray, chair professor in the Curriculum and Education Studies Department at the University of Hong Kong (www.hku.hk/dces/index.htm), would welcome applications for HKU's part-time PGCE courses from over the border, as long as students can attend two evening and a Saturday morning class a week here. Teaching practice would also have to be negotiated.

Chinese University's Department of Curriculum and Instruction, which has opened its two-year part-time programme to applicants not working in Hong Kong schools, will also welcome newcomers (www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/cri).

Other providers of courses taught in English or that will consider non-Chinese applicants include City University's Department of English and Communication (www.cityu.edu.hk), which has a programme in English Language Education), and the Hong Kong Institute of Education (www.ied.edu.hk).