Registan.net

I’ve heard some news. That makes it hearsay for you, gentle reader, but it’s still interesting.

Kazakhstan has decided to spend some money on serious English education. A friend just leaving the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan has signed on for a promised $2000/month, plus reimbursed travel. That might not cut it in super cosmopolitan Astana or Almaty, but in Shymkent it’s enough to live very comfortably. Shortly after hearing this, I received an email and a phone call from two other former Peace Corps comrades that they had heard the salary might well be pushed to $5000/month. I imagine that would be the minimum amount Kazakhstan could offer to actually start convincing John Q. Englishteacher in Yonkers, New York to pick up stakes and move to the steppe for a year. And if Kazakhstan has the money, why not?

It brings to mind the amount of money that Saudi Arabia spends on educating its youth abroad. When I first talked about with friends studying through the Saudi Cultural Mission, I thought that Saudi Arabia was being enormously generous with money that might be better spent on infrastructure or other pressing needs at home. According to my friends, though, the Saudi Cultural Mission is an arm of the government required by certain financial restrictions. They explained that much of the money spent on Saudi oil comes from banks in Europe and the United States, money controlled by Western companies, and they require that a percentage of it actually stay in-country. Meaning, we’ll trade you goods and services [education and TVs] for your oil. I had no idea such arrangements could be made, but I can certainly see the wisdom of them.

Would I move back to Kazakhstan to make $5000 a month? Oh, definitely. I’m busy at the moment with graduate school and an assistantship, but if this offer stands in two years time and it’s shown to be reliable, I’m all for it. My only worry is that the money will be managed like the Bolashak Scholarship program in Kazakhstan, their analog to the Saudi Cultural Mission. I have friends whose payments have come weeks or months late. The amounts have also decreased, instead of rising with inflation.

I couldn’t find anything after a couple google searches, but I’m not sure if there is that much organization in the Kazakh Ministry of Education yet to start selling this idea abroad. According to my friend that’s already been hired, he actually went into the Ministry for his interview, which won’t work if they’re hiring internationally. In any event, I found this advertisement through the British Councils. I should point out that even if you totally lack ESL teaching experience, any native speaker of English with the patience to sit in a classroom for 25 hours a week would probably find a job with the right resume and references. Peace Corps Volunteers from Central Asia would be a shoe-in, I bet, whether or not they were in the educational field.

And if you’re bat-shit crazy and want to actually pay someone to teach in Kazakhstan, there’s this missionary organization you can sign up for. After $6ooo+, they’ll send you off. Of course, you don’t have to choose Kazakhstan. And I’m sure most of those sent off had their expenses paid by local churches and other philanthropic organizations. Still, my point is that when the government is so desperate for teachers, why would you actually pay someone for the right to teach there? At the very least, just Volunteer and go for free.

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