China yesterday issued draft rules to toughen oversight of hundreds of thousands of foreign teachers who could be fired for acts such as “words and deeds” considered harmful to the nation’s sovereignty.
Foreign teachers would also be banned from “illegally engaging in religious education or preaching,” according to the guidelines drawn up by the education, foreign, public security and science ministries.
The rules have been submitted for public comments until Aug. 21 before final approval.
Beijing has in the past few years tried to make China’s education system more patriotic, eliminating what it perceives to be immoral foreign influences.
The new guidelines would require teachers to undergo at least 20 hours of training on topics such as the Chinese constitution and teachers’ ethics when they take up employment.
They follow a spate of detentions of international teachers in recent years for sex abuse and taking drugs.
The guidelines say teachers should be fired for such criminal offenses.
Those found to be violating the rules must be reported to educational authorities.
The guidelines also require all foreign teachers to possess a bachelor’s degree or higher, at least two years of teaching experience and relevant language teaching qualifications.
Schools that illegally hire foreign teachers without the right qualifications or approval, or mislead the public about teachers’ qualifications, could be fined up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,430) per teacher.
Teaching in China can be a lucrative career path for foreigners, especially if they are young graduates. Demand for foreign English teachers, in particular, remains robust, and many command salaries that are much higher than average teachers.
There were more than 400,000 foreign teachers working in China, according to a 2017 survey by state media, but only one third were employed legally.
High-profile criminal cases have put foreign teachers’ misdeeds in the spotlight. A Colombian national was sentenced to five years in prison in August last year for molesting a four-year-old at the kindergarten in Shandong Province where he taught.
In July last year, 16 foreigners — including seven teachers at the Xuzhou branch of language school franchise Education First — were arrested for allegedly taking drugs.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
RSS