Looking for native speakers to teach children and adults in Antananarivo, Madagascar

Starting January 2019.

- We are a family-run ESL school looking for native English speaker ESL teachers to join our school in the capital of Madagascar.

- Experience and certification taken into account in hiring.

- Contract: 6 to 12 months. Start in January 2019. Bonus for 1 year.

- Salary: Starting from approximately 550 USD per month for teachers with minimal qualifications, up to 1,250 USD per month for experienced and capable teachers (depending on availability of classes).

- The work: Teach ESL to children, youth and adults in private, group or English club settings. 20 to 34 teaching hours a week, mornings or evenings, Monday through Saturday.

- Enter on tourist visa for short stay or get a work visa for longer contract.

- Apply by sending cover letter, CV and references to: speakenglishtana.employment@gmail.com

For complete details read below:

AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK AND TEACH IN MADAGASCAR!

We are a family-run ESL school providing a variety of ESL classes and services for the last five years. 
We are recruiting native speaker level ESL teachers to join our team and provide ESL lessons for children, youth and adults in classes and individual lessons in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar.

Depending on your experience you will be teaching classes, animating an English club or tutoring individuals and small groups.

Our work environment is friendly and supportive. We expect teachers to be professional, outgoing and to show initiative. We can use all that you have to offer!

We are starting a new term in January 2019 and would like teachers to start by the 2nd week of January and to work for a minimum of 6 months. Ideally, a teacher will stay for a year or more.

ABOUT THE WORK

We provide standard English courses based on well-known materials such as the Cambridge Interchange and Oxford American English File series. We also provide customized courses and tutoring for interview/exam preparation and for companies and NGOs.

In 2018 we added classes for children aged four to eleven. In 2019 we hope to be able to continue and expand classes for this age group.

Our students come from a variety of backgrounds, from middle and high school students, to university students; to professionals in IT, Agronomy, Finance, Management, Media; to business people, civil servants, teachers, hairdressers; to directors and small business owners; and to NGOs, tour operators and large companies.

We offer a variety of course times to accommodate our students. We have early morning classes that start at 7 AM, followed by mid-morning and afternoon classes. We may eventually add evening classes. We also have Saturday classes, starting at 7 AM and finishing at 4:30 PM, that are quite popular.

In addition to the standard courses we provide private classes based on a mutually negotiated time.

Teaching the standard courses requires basic classroom management skills and an engaging manner. Little prep time is needed to prepare for adult classes, teacher books are available to guide lesson plans for the adult classes. For the most part the teacher can follow lesson plans in the student’s/teacher’s book.

We expect the incoming teacher to take on 12 or 18 hours of classes a week, with a further 5 hours on Saturday. Depending on the experience and ability of the teacher and on student demand, the teacher will be able to pick up an additional 6-12 hours with private students/companies.

Teachers can arrange holidays around long weekends (with arrangements for substitute teachers to cover classes). Our main break of 2 weeks is usually around the end of December. An additional break of 1-4 weeks can be envisioned for July/August.

REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

Pay is calculated on an hourly basis (one hour teaching equals one hour pay). Different pay rates are applied for different types of teaching work e.g. Saturday class has a higher rate than weekday class. Corporate, children's and private classes are paid at highest hourly rate.

Experienced and capable teachers will have the opportunity to work with individuals and companies for private tutoring/classes. These are paid at higher rates than regular classes. These classes may require travel around the city. You will be given an additional taxi fare if travel is required.

A minimum salary of 550 USD a month is guaranteed. This represents 20 hours a week of mostly regular classes.

A medium and typical salary is 900 USD a month. This is with a mix of regular classes, private classes and childrens' classes and about 30 hour a week.

A maximum salary during a busy month could reach 1,250 USD for about 37 hours a week.

Regular teaching hours may vary with +/- 6 hours a week and private classes depend on supply and demand.

For teachers coming from abroad we can provide simple temporary accommodation at the school for one month or we can help look for accommodation nearby the school.

We will pay a bonus of 500 USD for teachers that complete a full one year of work with us.

Living costs are approximately as follows:

Living costs Madagascar 2018 - Monthly 
Item - Malagasy Ariary (MGA)

Rent 
300,000 
Electricity and water 
60,000 
Telephone and 1.1 GB data plan 
25,000 
Transport (bus plus taxi*3) 
45,000 
Food - Groceries 
300,000 
Eating out - cheap*5/week 
80,000 
Eating out - pricey*1/week 
35,000 
Toiletries/meds etc. 
40,000 
Doctors visit 
15,000 
Entertainment 
60,000 
TOTAL 
1,005,000 MGA or 284 USD

This is the low end of expenses. Things can cost more, e.g. an unlimited data plan costs 150,000 MGA/month. A vacation/traveling over land is reasonable with hotels available from 50,000 MGA per night. Air travel will be the greatest expense.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS AND CRITERIA

Please submit the following documents in English by email to <speakenglishtana.employment@gmail.com>: 
1. A cover letter 
2. A C.V. 
3. Three references

We will look for experience and proven ability in ESL teaching as well as a personality that enjoys working with people and experiencing new cultures.

It is important that the applicant is at native English speaker level.

We will review applications and will schedule interviews for selected candidates on an ongoing basis, prioritizing candidates with availability to start in January and having experience and ability to teach both children and adults.

We will also have new courses starting towards April/July 2019 so later start dates are envisionable if positions are not filled. If you are interested in starting later in 2019 please clearly indicate this and the date available.

Start date: Classes start January 8th 2018. If arriving from abroad you would ideally arrive 3-5 days before the start of classes in order to acclimatize.

For new teachers, we will evaluate your abilities and will develop an orientation or training program/period based on your situation/background. This may range from a basic orientation before you start teaching to a longer process. Ongoing feedback and support will be given to ensure quality and satisfaction during your time here.

VISA PROCEDURE AND REQUIREMENTS

There are normally two ways to do this. One is to enter with a tourist visa, and the other to obtain a work visa.

For a six month stay a tourist visa with one trip out of the country is the cheaper and faster option, costing around 460 USD with travel, visa and hotel.

For a year's stay, a work visa is the cheaper alternative, costing around 552 USD, versus 880 USD for 3 trips out of country to renew tourist visas.

Given the short notice of this job posting a hybrid approach may be possible, such as entering on a tourist visa, then exiting the country to get a work visa after 3 months of stay.

Tourist visa details: 
Most passport holders can enter Madagascar and obtain a 60 day tourist visa at the airport for 50 USD. The visa can be extended a further 30 days in country. Entering on a tourist visa will require you to leave the country and re-enter at the end of the 90 days. Being an island, flights to the closest neighboring countries of Reunion, Mauritius or Comoros cost about 350 USD round trip.

Steps to obtaining a work visa:

Before arriving: 
1. Obtain police clearance from your country (original copy within 3 months), 
2. Sign a contract with us. 
3. We prepare your “Authorization to work” certificate here which we will send you. 
4. Go to nearest embassy and submit above papers and a visa application (fees around 50 USD, processing time 4 days) 
5. Obtain a one-month transformable visa 
6. Enter Madagascar with the above visa 
7. Upon entering Madagascar we will submit paperwork to transform the above visa to a longer term work visa.

You will also need to get a national ID card here for an additional fee of 300 or 400 Euros for a one or two-year card respectively. This ID card requires additional paperwork to be obtained here such as a Tax ID as well as another copy of Police clearance. We will help with the paperwork.

ABOUT MADAGASCAR

The main languages are Malagasy and French. English is taught in schools, but most students have a weak grasp upon graduating. Many professionals seek out English classes to improve their careers.

Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world with most of its population living in a rural environment. The capital and larger towns have both modern and traditional aspects, eg Antananarivo has supermarkets, 4G internet, Hummers and stable electricity, yet malnutrition remains a problem.

Madagascar does have many riches in its forests and unique plants and animals, its rich musical culture (Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=malagasy+music will give you a variety of videos ranging from Malagasy folk to dance music!), its crafts, its seafood, its tropical fruit (think Litchis by the bucketful). You can take French/German/Chinese lessons, African or classical dance lessons, music lessons, tennis etc. here in the capital.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Diarrhea is common for most first-timers to Madagascar. Malaria is not common in Antananarivo so you will not need Malaria prophylaxis unless traveling outside the capital.

Doctors’ visits are inexpensive and most medicines are available in generic form. We will reimburse 50% of medical expenses up to a limit of 200,000 Ariary/illness.

Security and personal safety require some vigilance, the same as in any large city. We will provide an orientation on health and safety for teachers arriving from abroad.

PHOTOS/REFERENCES/RESOURCES

About Speak English Tana: You can see more about us at: facebook.com/speakenglishtana

About Madagascar: 
Google “traveling in Madagascar”!

Previous teachers that have worked with us: 
Malcolm, Jennifer, Rachel, Kristin, Haina, Doug. Their contact information is available on request.