The International Schools Review Forum

I have read in a few of the recent school reviews mention of a shortage of qualified Int. teachers on the circuit. I have a theory that this situation, if it is real, has been caused by the departure of Canadian teachers from the circuit due to the rise in the Canadian currency. Who wants to earn 28K USD when the Canadian dollar is getting closer to par? Why not go home and make 50K CDN ?? Do you know of, or are you, a CDN teacher thinking of leaving the circuit? Is this the reason?

I am not convinced that there is really a shortage of teachers. I think the pool of teachers remains about the same, but in contrast to past years there are now many more international schools in existence and these schools are competing for teachers, too. In addition with sites lik ISR on line teachers are shying away from schools with many poor reviews.

For teachers this is a good thing and it may mean that some of these schools that pay subsistence wages and offer few benefits will have to put more on the table to attract teachers.

Yes, I certainly hope the competition encouraged by ISR serves to raise the overall standards of Int. Schools. I am constantly amazed at the stories of incompetently managed schools that manage, year after year, to attract a new batch of 'educated professionals' to fill their vacancies at pathetically low salaries. As long as there is a bottomless pool of applicants there is no incentive to improve conditions, both for teachers and students. Even at the best schools the pay rates seem to have become frozen at mid-eighties salaries.