John Horgan’s new government is inheriting a lot of messes to clean up and the B.C. Liberals’ controversial offshore schools program is one of them.
After pleading for help from the B.C. government for months through the spring, a group of B.C.-certified teachers who were ordered to leave South Korea, where they worked at a B.C. Ministry of Education-certified offshore school, have some harsh words for the outgoing government and advice for the new one on how to clean up that mess.
The teachers from the former South Korean “Canada B.C. International School” (CBIS) left Korea in May after being ordered out of the country by South Korean immigration officials because they had the wrong visas for the kind of licenses their schools were operating under.
They say they’re trying to “create positive reform” so the offshore program can be successful and ensure teachers and students have stronger protections from owners and operators who don’t follow the rules.
After the teachers were kicked out of the country in May, the B.C. Ministry of Education posted an update on its website in early June saying it’s “placed all B.C. offshore schools in South Korea on probation as a result of the ongoing review of E2 teacher visas by the South Korean immigration department” adding that the South Korean immigration department “has decided to issue departure orders to teachers holding E2 visas from three B.C. offshore schools.”
The ministry is advising teachers not to take jobs at B.C.-certified offshore schools in South Korea until it “completes a review.”
The former CBIS teachers — who were the first group to be told to leave Korea for having the wrong visas — say they’re providing support to teachers who remain there, but are facing orders to leave, by sharing their own experiences, providing them with documents to help them navigate the immigration process, contact information, how to prepare for leaving the country and a messaging service to stay connected with the expelled CBIS teachers.
In an emailed statement, teacher Alexander Hebb alleges the B.C. education ministry knew the CBIS school was operating illegally.
“They had contracted inspectors review that exact license and the inspectors approved a license that did not exist. The ministry was also warned of the illegal operations of CBIS via an anonymous email dated January 27, 2017. The International Education Branch of the B.C. Ministry of Education let our school, teachers, and students fail and did nothing to intervene,” the teachers say in a “statement of fact” Hebb emailed to the Vancouver Observer.
The statement says there are still about 100 B.C.-certified teachers working at B.C. government-certified schools who are also being forced to leave South Korea and who will have that on their record to explain to future employers and when making visa requests.
“These teachers are essentially ambassadors of Canada along with fulfilling their teaching duties.They deal directly with the families that have searched out a Canadian education. Teachers are offered no protections or voices in the offshore school systems.
“Even bigger, this issue affects thousands of these families and students from South Korea that are potential future international students and immigrants to Canada. These are wealthy citizens who were ready to invest a part of their lives and their education in Canada. Now they’ve lost a chunk of their academic school year, and could have a soured view of B.C. or Canadian Education and of Canada itself for failing to intervene and allowing this illegal school and its shady operations to exist.
“These are human beings - kids - who have been hurt and have lost out on an education.
“This level of incompetence is astounding. All of this could have been prevented if the school owners, the B.C. ministry, and Korean Immigration were proactive or worked together, “ the statement says.
The visa clampdown was reported in the Korean news media this week, and a published report says there are another 11 “such unauthorized foreign alternative schools certified by other Canadian provinces and jurisdictions in the United States still operating in South Korea.”
The fix — common sense
The CBIS teachers’ statement says “We believe that our suggestions for the B.C. ministry’s Review of B.C. offshore schools are concrete, simple, and cost-effective. To put it bluntly, it’s common sense. Hopefully there will be change and a focus on supporting future international students and their families coming to Canada and current Canadian teachers abroad.”
They are advising the B.C. government provide the following:
On the ground representation. The B.C. government should provide a bilingual ministry of education representative in Seoul, who is readily available to help and advise teachers who are in crisis situations.
A designated bilingual representative who understands the local education laws and legal system of the country. This representative would be part of the B.C. offshore inspections and would verify school licenses and any other legal documentation relating to the school and/or the teachers. This representative would not be part of the school administration and would be designated by the B.C. Ministry of Education.
A protocol for school probation and/or closure to ensure protection is provided for students, parents, and teachers in the case of probation or closure. The B.C. government should provide explicit support to parents and students ensuring students’ educational well-being.
Increased stability and accountability in school administration including clear protocols and higher standards for hiring and during inspections.
More inspections and follow-up if there is a turnover in administration, or if the school is without a principal for more than a month.
A clear chain of command for communication between teachers, administration and owners that encourages dialogue and helps find solutions. This would also offer support for teachers if they need to report administrative or ownership concerns without fear of repercussions.
Assurance for the protection of all B.C. certified teachers currently on [Korean] E2 visas in B.C. offshore schools in South Korea.
Consequences and safety nets to keep school owners and operators accountable for protecting B.C.-certified teachers working in their offshore schools. Those would include fines and a warning system that both the owners and the ministry agree to that could warrant the revocation of the owners’ license if there is evidence of negligence. The teachers suggest a budget be established to provide teachers with representation from an international lawyer in any cases where the owners or operators neglect, abandon, or mistreat teachers.
School principals in place at all times. If there is an extended vacancy, the teachers recommend the B.C. government “step in and appoint a B.C.-certified principal through a system with reserve principals on call or a way to support the school in hiring a principal as soon as possible.”
Assurance that schools abide by national and local laws. “The B.C. Ministry of Education should be responsible for being up-to-date on international law,” the CBIS teachers told me via email. “In our case, CBIS had no license and previously had the wrong school license according to Korean law. B.C. offshore representatives should be aware and up-to-date on proper school licensure and visa and immigration law in countries that operate B.C. offshore schools. That is not the teachers’ responsibility, but in the case with CBIS, the teachers bore the brunt of the school owners’ negligence and the ministry’s negligence. “
Too little, too late for some teachers
“A week prior to the first teacher and principal being detained, Doug Lauson [an offshore school inspector contracted by the B.C. ministry of education] visited Korea and spent, as he claimed, an ‘entire day’ researching immigration issues. But at that point, it was already too late. The ministry should have already done its research on proper school licensure and immigration law before the beginning of the school year. And if the ministry had found that CBIS was violating the law, they could have refused to allow CBIS to keep its B.C. license and alerted all the teachers of the fact that CBIS was violating the law,” the teachers say in their email.
Following a report in the Globe and Mail this week, the ministry’s executive director of International Education and Independent Schools, Brian Jonker, broke what the CBIS teachers claim was a long silence despite several attempts on their part to get a response from him. They say that after months of cancelled meetings and being told to submit freedom of information requests to get answers to their questions, Jonker emailed them the following message on June 21:
“Dear CBIS teachers,
“Between May 3, 2017 and May 8, 2017 the Ministry of Education received confirmation from the former CBIS school that it had fulfilled its contractual obligations and written confirmation to the ministry of education by providing remuneration to impacted teachers up to and including June 2017 salary, as well as any supplements toward the cost of return travel within the contract. The ministry of education also received confirmation that this information was shared with teachers by the former school principal during the same time period.
“We are following-up to reconfirm with you that you have received both the final payment of your salary for the school year, as well as the contribution toward your travel out of the country.”
What’s in it for the inspectors?
The teachers allege in their email to me that B.C.-government contracted inspectors treat the B.C. offshore schools as "farms" to attract students to independent schools operating in B.C. and that many seem to be connected to the B.C. Federation of Independent Schools Association (FISA).
FISA’s president, Doug Lauson, is the former superintendent of the Catholic Independent Schools Vancouver Archdiocese. He travelled to Korea to inspect CBIS twice last spring and the teachers say he reassured them the “visa problems were insignificant.” Lauson did not respond to my requests for comment.
The teachers also cite the example of Kootenay Christian Academy principal Des McKay, who wrote in a school newsletter last fall that he was off to South Korea to inspect four schools and said “my goal is to build a network of offshore school contacts that can someday enrich and support the goals of KCA.” McKay did not respond to my questions about what he meant by that but also noted in the newsletter that he found doing the inspections “personally enriching.”
Enriching indeed. A source told me the contracts usually pay a rate of $600/day for the inspection team chair and $500 a day for others team members, plus $125 for incidentals plus $115 per diem for food. Airfare and accommodation are also provided. All inspection costs are paid by the schools.
My request to the Ministry of Education to confirm these numbers was not answered.
B.C.’s offshore school program has come under fire in the past for allegations of grade inflation and harassment of teachers and the potential damage being done to the credibility of B.C.’s “dogwood” diplomas and “superficial” inspections by the B.C. Ministry of Educations’ selected inspection teams.
It will be interesting to see what the Horgan government does to clean up this mess.