WARNING EF Cengkareng/ Swara Group (Indonesia)

[jujubean]

To all who read this forum,

Another concern for EF's in Indonesia. I left this company and school a few months ago. I tired to let it go. I just could not. I have to warn you about these people an their schools. Not all EF's are terrible. For example, Bandung schools seem to be better. But the EF Swara group needs to be avoided. Period. They function in ways that would make Kim Jong Ill blush. Below is a letter I wrote them the day I left. Their response, in as many words, was go away.

Since the time of this letter, The school I was at ( EF Cengkareng), has not ever retained a single second year teacher. They have added a sixth room to the teacher house, which means they turn a profit off the teachers house! I am open to any criticism that anyone from this group or school will levy against me. I put my name on this document because nothing I say is irrefutable. Along with the other warning on this message board, I hope you all make the right decision.

p.s. I apologize for any typos or other errors.



September 23th, 2006


Pak Gusti,

With my time coming to an end with EF CENGKARENG, this is a good moment to reflect on some things that have happened this year. I am, and will always be, grateful for the opportunity that was given to me to develop my craft as a teacher. The support of, and camaraderie with, the Director of Studies (DOS) and the teaching staff has been nothing less than wonderful. Unfortunately, I cannot say this extended to the staff or management of the school at all times. My time with EF CENGKARENG has been marred by certain events and actions that have made the experience less enjoyable than it could have been. I hope this letter can be seen as an opportunity to tweak the problems at EF CENGKARENG so both the teachers and administration can reach their potential in the future. Here are some of my suggestions:

1. EF CENGKARENG needs to communicate with the teachers better. Here is a good example of what would be the reoccurring problem of poor communication. My first meeting with the school was on a Friday, and it was decided that I would come back on the following Monday for observation at 2pm. The following day, the school sent me a curious text message telling me about teaching classes on Monday. Since this was a text message, I could only assume that it was confirmation of what was discussed on Friday. So I simply replied ok. I walked in on Monday at 1:50 and was told that I was going to be the instructor for 2 classes starting from 2:00. I was sent in to teach without any kind of guidance on my first day, and it was a total disaster. I think a phone call would have been a much better way to communicate with me and it would have given me an opportunity to express my concern that new teachers need some observation and preparation time before actually teaching a class.


2. Stop passing the buck. Another reoccurring practice I discovered was the blaming of someone else for problems and issues I was confronting. Continuing with the above mentioned incident, when I tried to find out what happened; it just went in a circle of blame until I stopped asking about it. This pattern appeared every time I wanted to know or do something EF CENGKARENG was not interested in. Another example was when I was having some respiratory troubles and wanted the school to get me a fan so I would not have to use the air conditioner. I was told to ask the DOS. The DOS told me to ask Teachers Affair Management. Teachers Affair Management told me to ask HR. HR told to me to ask the Central Management. The Central Management told to go back to the Teachers Affair Management, but she would look into it. I am still waiting for her findings and a reply 10 months later.


3. Consistency in policy. While an office is a dynamic place with flexibility being needed to make it work, EF CENGKARENG takes this flexibility to the extreme. For example, I was in Indonesia when I took the job. I started working when I had the tourist visa. For whatever reason, EF CENGKARENG was not able to provide me a working visa in a timely manor, and I had to get another tourist visa. That in itself seemed ok; but the school asking me to pay for it did not. A school asking an employee to pay for air fare and other cost so they could work was fairly strange to me. I was told that this is standard in language schools. Being new to Indonesia, I accepted this answer. I found out later that “this is standard in language schools”, would be a catch-all phrase for questionable behaviours practised by EF CENGKARENG. This situation certainly was questionable as two of the other teachers I lived with had the same visa issue but EF CENGKARENG paid for their travel.


4. The housing situation needs to be handled better. The house provided originally had three rooms, but now has been modified to 5. EF CENGKARENG avoids getting a new house and is always talking about adding a 6th room. It is unwise and unhealthy for the teaching or work environment to have so many of us stacked on top of each other like that. The living situation at the house has niggling problems like the refrigerator being too small and not having enough pots, dishes etc in the house. When we ask for things like a toaster or a microwave, the EF CENGKARENG line is that since we are well paid, we can buy them. I am a sophomore on these things, but it appears as if EF CENGKARENG wants to have the teacher furnish the “provided furnished housing”. Also, EF CENGKARENG is reluctant to handle repairs or needed upgrades in a timely manner. There was some sort of bug infestation in the ceiling of my room when I first came. It was only after I made it clear that I would need to stay in a hotel that it was fixed. What exacerbated this problem was that EF CENGKARENG knew this bug infestation existed several months before I moved in. I was told in as many words they did not address this issue because their contractor was busy, and they did not want to spend the money on an outside contractor!

5. Remuneration and accounting. The contract states that we will be paid for holidays, but we are not. The accounting system used gives us a minimum hour level, but not a maximum. So if you have arrived at the 23 hour limit on a week that there are two public holidays, it is possible to work up to 8 hours more and not get paid. This has happened more than once. Also EF CENGKARENG does not give us a pay stub. Since we have an electronic transfer payment system, EF CENGKARENG says it is not necessary for a paper or electronic pay stub. It is curious that a legal, recordable trail of taxable monies is not necessary. It was disheartening for me to be told by EF CENGKARENG that I need not have my western expectations with this issue. If a teacher wants to be above board in his/her dealing in Indonesia (like getting a credit card or opening a mutual fund) a pay stub is necessary.

6. No support for racist behaviours towards teachers. There were two very bad race-related incidents involving me that took place during my year at EF CENGKARENG. In one, a student called me a black monkey boy. Not only did the staff laugh when I told them what happened, EF CENGKARENG later said it would not be in the best interest of the child to apologize. In another incident, a student’s mother claimed that her child was “traumatized” by a black doll and requested that I not teach her child. It is obvious what that request was all about (by the way, there are no black dolls that I know of in Indonesia, the general obsession with white skin ensures that). Unfortunately, EF CENGKARENG caved and supported this racist behaviour of the parent. EF CENGKARENG has every right to keep as many students and to be as profitable as possible, but at what cost to the relationships to your teachers?


7. Covering schedules. In out contract, it says that we can be asked to work hours not on our schedule. As far as I know, asking is still a request and not an instruction. On one occasion, the school called me at 8:50 on a Saturday to cover a 9 o’clock class. I said no. About a month later, a similar situation happened. Again I said no. The school then wrote me a letter telling me that I may be terminated if I say no in the future. That is a threat as far as I was concerned. I made it clear to HR that this was thuggery to threaten me like that, but I also gave a positive suggestion of having one teacher per week on standby since we do not sit by the phone waiting for EF CENGKARENG to call us to cover classes. HR liked this suggestion but I am not surprised that they did not follow up.

While there are many more things that could be mentioned, the above seven items paint a fairly broad representation of what the year has been like. I want to be in a position where I feel that I work with a company, and unfortunately, EF CENGKARENG has made me feel as if I work for them. I was asking a question once about some practice that I found to be really dodgy. The staff told me that asking these questions meant that I did not respect the boss. It seems as if the word “respect” is a substitute for the word “fear”. And if that is the case, then yes, I did not fear them.

I will say again that my time at EF CENGKARENG was not all negative, but the positive aspects are marginalized. Does EF CENGKARENG provide an opportunity for first year teachers? Yes. Does this mean first year teachers should be looked at as replaceable drones? No. Do EF CENGKARENG teachers earn a better salary than many people in Jakarta? Yes. Does this remuneration reflect what other schools offer or the financial gain that teachers bring into the school? No. Are EF CENGKARENG teachers living outside of their home culture? Yes. Should EF CENGKARENG meet western teachers in the middle if they want a western experience for the classroom? Yes.

In closing, I wish to thank you for the opportunity to work as a first-time English teacher at EF CENGKARENG. I have learned a lot and grown over the year. I hope these suggestions I have made do not fall on deaf ears. Constant, genuine feedback from teachers to administration can only serve to improve their living and teaching environment. This in turn will help the school with improving their employee job satisfaction level and also the teacher retention level. This makes sense to me if EF CENGKARENG really wants to be a quality English school. I hope this unsolicited feedback from me will be seen as an opportunity for EF CENGKARENG to reflect on some of its practices and to take some steps towards making some positive improvements. I assure you that it will be in the best interest of all stakeholders at the school, including students, teachers and administration.

Yours sincerely,

JULIAN CAMPBELL