Beijing-Based Online School to Hire 100,000 Filipino Online English Teachers

Good news for Filipino online English teachers! Over the next five years, Beijing-based online school 51Talk is planning to hire 100,000 Filipinos who can teach English to Chinese nationals online.

51Talk Founder and CEO Jack Huang said in a press conference that Filipino teachers are the “best online English teachers in the world.”

Huang also mentioned that 16,000 of their 18,000 online English teachers all over the world are home-based Filipino teachers.

“Filipinos’ English competency is very high, they speak very fluent English, they can understand Chinese culture better than other countries, and most importantly, we have the same time zones so our teachers and students do not need to suffer from the time differences,” said Huang.

Plans to Expand Training Centers

Aside from hiring thousands of Filipino English teachers, Huang also disclosed the plan to expand 51Talk’s training centers from seven to 20. Currently, the company has offices in Pasig, Bacolod, Baguio, Imus, Cebu, Davao, and Angeles.

On top of this, officials of 51Talk are looking to conduct more career development programs and provide certifications and training for Filipino online teachers.

The officials are concerned, however, with the Internet connectivity in the Philippines.

51Talk Vice President for Philippine Operations Jennifer Que said that Internet service providers in the country play a “very critical” role to their company. In line with this, she mentioned that 51Talk already partnered with PLDT, Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., and Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. to get better Internet service.

The company also has partnered with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), which allows it to use DICT’s facilities in training teachers.

As of now, 51Talk has over 10 million registered users. It is also the first education company to be listed in the New York Stock Exchange in 2016.

via Manila Bulletin / Jhon Aldrin Casinas