My neighbour travels 45 min on a motorbike every morning to get to the middle school in the town. When she gets there most of her classes lack a teacher to actually teach the material, so she sits there, hangs out, probably fools around, wasting her time. Since I have nothing to do and since every kid in that school has begged me to teach them English there I figured well I’ll probably regret this but why not and headed over to the school to inquire how I could be hired.
The place was hot as hell, dusty, noisy (most of the kids have nothing to do since there aren’t enough teachers), and disorganised but I walk into the secretary’s office and offer myself. She informs me that because this is a government school I must enter a concurso to be able to teach there. Damn, I know I have to be Brazilian to enter a concurso. Looks like I’ve hit a dead end.
Well the kids continue to bug me and now the adults from the community too…so I decide to visit the Secretary of Education the next time I’m in the city. BLOCKED, no way, no how. They take my resume and ask hesitantly if I have a certificate that I speak English….wow….just wow…lol. They also informed me that while they understand there are no teachers at that school they are unable to hire me without citizenship. Yes they are lacking qualified teachers….well, any body they can stick in a classroom, but wont let me work.They prefer to not offer any classes and have kids sitting in a school with no teachers than hire a non-Brazilian. Awesome.
American to Amazonian 