AT LEAST 2,000 Filipino English language teachers will be hired by China this year under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Philippine and Chinese officials witnessed by President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sideline of Boao Forum For Asia in China.
Duterte said the nine MOUs also yielded US$8 billion of investments, expected to generate more than 10,000 jobs for Filipinos.
“Among these is the Memorandum of Understanding on the employment of Filipino teachers of English language in China that allows for the employment of 2,000 Filipino English language teachers starting this year and will be valid for two years, subject to renewal,” the President said.
The President said China wanted to learn English which has become the global language and spoken by over 350 million people around the world.
Duterte has instructed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to start the implementation of guidelines for the hiring of Filipino English teachers who will earn at least US$1,200 a month or equivalent to more than P100,000.
For his part, Bello said the bilateral agreement with China might be renewed after two years and outlines the salaries, work hours, benefits and other employment rules for Filipino workers.
He said China actually needed 100,000 English teachers, and preferred nations whose mother tongue was English.
“Since English is the second language of Filipinos, China allows us to get a fair share on the market,” he said.
Bello said the agreement was forged as part of the two countries’ growing friendship and after China relaxed its rules, allowing foreigners to enter its labor force.
The labor chief said China was also set to accept Filipino domestic helpers and might soon replace Middle East countries as the main host to millions of Filipino household workers.