The world of certifications...will most probably not help to spell the end of discrimination against Non Native English Speaking Teachers !

As you know, Qualiopi is now a must-have certification for training organisations that want to use the CPF. Does this certification help to avoid discriminations of any kind ? No...

So you may be a Qualiopi certified school and continue to discriminate against NNESTs, no one is going to tell you off...well, no one but me, of course ! Because in such situation I will consider you are no longer a quality school. To me, a quality school treats their teachers as quality ones...but Qualiopi doesn't take this dimension into account...not at all. Nothing about offering teachers minimum decent rates, nothing about payment terms either...and so on...

Yesterday I had a phone interview with a person from LDS (Languages Development Society).

As often, I was told over the phone that my application couldn't suit the school's need because I am a NNEST. Yet the recruiter confirmed they had a real need to hire a teacher for online courses.

Below is the email I sent to the recruiter after the phone interview. Further down below you will learn about another certification called "Service France Garanti". I will let you decide if it is valuable or not !

Here is the related school website's link (all is written in French): https://www.lds-langues.com/formation-linguistique-certification-service-france-garantie/

Dear Susan,

Reflecting back on our phone conversation, I feel really upset that you don’t want to hire me just because I am not a Native English Speaking Teacher…

You told me that your client requires Native English Speaking Teachers and you said the client is king.

But on second thought, I don’t completely agree with that, because a king is above the law.

Money is often king, yes, but as far as your client is concerned, well it is all up to you to make them a king or not...

Is it legal to require a teacher that was born in a specific place (England, America or Australia, as you said) and as a result exclude all other teachers ? Oh and what about other English speaking countries like the ones in Africa, for example ? Not to the king’s liking ?

Well, I’m not sure it is legal, actually…

What if you client asked for blond-haired and blue-eyed teachers only ? Would your recruitment policy still tailor to the king’s needs ?

Again, as a language school that recruits teachers, I do think your role is to remind your client of where the limits are, in order not to become complicit in potentially discriminatory practices…

After all, isn’t it a school’s role to educate ?

At the end of our interview, you said you would keep my CV on file because « we never know !».

After looking at your website, I have to say that I don’t have even the slightest glimmer of hope that your company will hire me in the future…

Indeed, it’s written that you only hire Native English Speaking Teachers…

It’s all very well to be « Service France Garanti » certified, but I find the reality behind it more disreputable…

I was aghast to learn that this certification (« Service France Garanti ») guarantees the « traceability of your language training courses ». Well, if I keep reading further down, you are talking about teachers’ origins in fact, aren’t you ?!

We usually use the word « traceability » for products or services, but more seldom for human beings…

If I go on translating what’s written on your website, still in the « Service France Garanti » section, I can read « our committment to the maintenance of local jobs and local know-how. All our LDS trainers teach their mother tongue and are based in France »

So, to wrap it all up and to make sure I understand, LDS maintains local (French) jobs and know-how by rejecting applications from English teachers who were born in France, is that right ?

Well, thanks very much for your contribution !

 

Regards,

 

Vincent RICHARD

Yes, with the "Service France Garanti" certification, you can rest assured that LDS actively participates in the national effort aiming at maintaining the French know-how and French jobs !

Regarding traceability, it is transparent that LDS English teachers are all "made in England, America or Australia", then "imported" to France where they are hired as per the French labour law. Maybe I should try to teach French in Britain for example, there may be an equivalent certification there (something like "Guaranteed British Service") that would give me the upper hand over local teachers just because I wasn't not born in Britain !

Anyway, I should give it a go because as some people say : we never know !!

I sent an email to Service France Garanti people in order to gather their views on that. 

Like Susan, they will most probably not answer my email but as some people say : we never know !!

In conclusion, congratulations to the world of certifications !