I went to the Edu office last week. We had "a very nice chat with the nice lady." She showed me the math and explained how I broke the rule by charging the kids nearly 12,000won more than what I am allowed to. And how terribly wrong of me it was. There was no point explaining her that some of our kids get much more instruction for free, some books are free, we give them parties, and library classes..... and edu office should be looking at the averages rather than sticking to very narrow data.
I pressed her on telling me who sold us, and she absolutely shamelessly told me that edu office used entrapment. They hired people, promised them bonuses, equipped them with hidden cameras to go around hogwans and smaller schools to entrap hard working guys like us. What can be an outrageous and punishable practice in any other country is a legit method used by high goverment authority in Korea.
So the outcome of my visit is that she takes 20 points out of 40 allocated to me. ( if I loose the 40 points, I am to be closed, as was explained to me.) I am to provide extra 2 hours of teaching per week or reduce my price to 148,000won. Nathaniel under no condition is allowed to be working at the same space as me. If he is there next time she shows up, we will be closed, for the remaining 20 points will be taken from me.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
How high is too high for a "good one" to stab you
So we have been working(slaving) our asses off for a year and a half. Things started to really pick up beginning from the middle of summer when we got people calling and coming all the time. We have been adding students and now have 4 groups for each of us to teach. This is the time when someone with "good intentions" decides to knock us out and basically try to kill a successful and effective business run by two foreigners. Today I got a surprise visit from Education office. Apparently they got an anonimous report on us about our pricing which is nonlegit. We charge 160,000 won for over 5 hours of teaching a week. This is 15,000 won more than we are allowed to charge. What the fuck does Education office have to do with pricing in the first place? Isn't it supposed to be in the realm of business. Out prices are nearly 100,000 less than what other language schools charge. And seriously even this 160,000 won is a tough price to survive on, considering we have to pay rent, bus, utilities... I am not talking about the salary. We both are volunteering our time. According to the Education office again, we have to provide nearly 7 hours of instruction a week and charge 134,000 won. Good luck with that. Are they fantasizing?
Now let us stop being so rude and emotional and try to look behind the Education dudes reasoning.
1. Education office doesn't like private education. We get it. It is evil, and it is overpriced. We get it again.
2. As a result, Education office fixes a stupid unrealistic price on private education, forcing hagwons to either lie about the amount of instruction they provide or make kids stay longer hours with some useless instruction or doing self-studies.
3. All is done for the sake of keeping kids at school because schools are cheap and have teachers.
The problems with this completely twisted reasoning is that it leads to twisted results.
Parents don't like schools anyways. The competition for these parents is too real and terrifying to leave their kids at the mercy of schools. They will go to hagwons, always. And education dudes make it even easier for them to stick the kids in hagwons because hagwons are getting cheaper.
So basically education office sends a message that private instruction should be pursued by everyone, which is utterly wrong. Good schools should be allowed to compete. survive and flourish when they deliver good results. Good and great schools should be elite. Come to me if you want and can, and I set my prices. No any wanker from education office should be allowed to come and put such hideous limits on my business forcing me to lie, bribe, or leave. Good job, Korea.
Way to go with torturing and depriving your own future generations as well as killing the little teaching talent you manage to get in this country.
Now let us stop being so rude and emotional and try to look behind the Education dudes reasoning.
1. Education office doesn't like private education. We get it. It is evil, and it is overpriced. We get it again.
2. As a result, Education office fixes a stupid unrealistic price on private education, forcing hagwons to either lie about the amount of instruction they provide or make kids stay longer hours with some useless instruction or doing self-studies.
3. All is done for the sake of keeping kids at school because schools are cheap and have teachers.
The problems with this completely twisted reasoning is that it leads to twisted results.
Parents don't like schools anyways. The competition for these parents is too real and terrifying to leave their kids at the mercy of schools. They will go to hagwons, always. And education dudes make it even easier for them to stick the kids in hagwons because hagwons are getting cheaper.
So basically education office sends a message that private instruction should be pursued by everyone, which is utterly wrong. Good schools should be allowed to compete. survive and flourish when they deliver good results. Good and great schools should be elite. Come to me if you want and can, and I set my prices. No any wanker from education office should be allowed to come and put such hideous limits on my business forcing me to lie, bribe, or leave. Good job, Korea.
Way to go with torturing and depriving your own future generations as well as killing the little teaching talent you manage to get in this country.
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