40% of International School Teachers Expected to Leave This Year

•Up to 40% of international school teachers expected to depart this year, says a group of 66 schools in China that employs about 3,600 teachers.

•Apart from the departing teachers, some international schools face a drop in foreign student enrolment as the COVID curbs led many foreign families to leave

After teaching for three years at an international school in Shanghai, Michael is preparing to break his contract and leave.

"It has reached a point where the economic benefits of working here don’t make up for the lack of ability to come and go," the science teacher said, declining to give his full name for reasons of privacy.

Michael is one of hundreds of international teachers heading for the exits as the COVID-19 pandemic and new rules on education reshape the working environment in China.

The situation is prompting international schools that proliferated over the past two decades, as China opened up to foreign investment and talent, to sound warning bells.

Some find their survival is now on the line, while the quality of education stands to suffer in the long run.

International schools nationwide numbered 821 by 2019, says education website Xinxueshuo.

With fees that can exceed 300,000 yuan ($44,000) a year, the total annual value of tuition paid to international schools is estimated to be 55.4 billion yuan ($8.2 billion).

About 40% of Michael's peers will leave mainland jobs this year, up from 30% last year and 15% before the pandemic, says a group of 66 schools in China that employs about 3,600 teachers.

And hiring replacements for them is getting harder, said Tom Ulmet, executive director of the group, the Association of China and Mongolia International Schools (ACAMIS).

"People around the world have been reading about the lockdowns and just don't feel a need to come," he added.

Apart from the departing teachers, international schools face a drop in foreign student enrolment as the COVID curbs led many foreign families to leave, while others stay away.

The turmoil is fuelling demand for teachers who have opted to stay on, however.

Jessica, a middle school teacher with almost 20 years of experience in China, said she was flooded with interview requests at a recent online jobs fair.

"I was offered so much money," she said, adding that one school in the capital, Beijing, dangled a base starting salary of more than 50,000 yuan ($7,361) a month.

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