Teaching English as a foreign teacher in Cambodia – Destination TEFL

What are the current conditions of employment for foreign teachers in Cambodia in 2022?

Teaching jobs in Southeast Asia are some of the most sought-after international teaching positions. Destination TEFL / TESOL recruits and trains teachers for excellent teaching jobs abroad in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

To teach English in Southeast Asia, most teachers will require native level proficiency, a TEFL, TESOL, or CELTA certification and a university degree. Cambodia is currently the only country in Southeast Asia where a university degree is not required.

Destination TEFL / TESOL is NOT a teacher recruitment agency. We can only offer guaranteed placement assistance to trainees who have completed one of our teacher training programmes at any of our training centres.

Destination TEFL has an extensive network of schools, both local government,  international schools and language centres. These schools prefer employing Destination TEFL graduates based on the skills and knowledge our trainees have gained during our training programmes.

Working with Destination TEFL, you’ll immediately be part of an already established ESL teacher community. You will get the support needed to embark on this life-changing journey of becoming a foreign teacher in your chosen destination.

We can all agree that the pandemic has turned everything upside down and with this, some of the general information about teaching in Cambodia must be revised, especially salary expectations and the terms of the contracts.

We created an anonymous questionnaire to help us gather up-to-date information, and to confirm the teaching job market in Cambodia, and hope this will offer a better understanding of what the current situation is for foreign English teachers in Cambodia.

Below you will see the report based on 74 teachers, currently teaching in Cambodia:

TEACHER NATIONALITY

The vast majority of teachers currently teaching in Cambodia are nationals from the 7 Native English Speak (NES) countries with South Africa coming in at the top with 36,5%, followed by the United Kingdom with 20,3% and the USA at 13,5%

TEACHER AGE

A very interesting statistic we’ve seen is that more than 75% of the foreign teachers currently teaching in Cambodia are 35 years and older. We noticed this trend with our teacher training courses as well. Professional people are realising that corporate life is no longer for them, and decided to do something more meaningful with their lives. We call these the “Golden Gappers” 35,1% of the teachers are aged 41 years and older.

HIGHEST QUALIFICATION

Cambodia is currently the ONLY country in Southeast Asia where you can find a teaching position without holding a Bachelor’s Degree. We are however seeing that more and more schools require a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree – especially the more ‘elite’ schools in Cambodia. It does not mean that your degree has to be in Education, however, having a qualification in Education will surely set you apart from the rest. 29,7% of teachers have a Bachelor’s Degree in any field, 28.4% of teachers DO NOT have a Bachelor’s degree and 12.2% have either an Associate’s Degree or a Degree in Education.

Your salary will always depend on your experience and qualifications. For clarification, an associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a Bachelor’s Degree.

TEACHING HOURS

Most teachers across Southeast Asia only have between 22 and 24 hours of actual contact time (this means actual teaching hours). However, in Cambodia, we’ve noticed a slight increase in hours due to the limited resources that some schools have. While 41.1% of the teachers only teach 20 to 24 hours a week, we can see 23.3% of teachers teaching 24 to 28 hours per week, with a staggering 35.6% of teachers teaching 28 hours and above per week.

LENGTH OF STAY IN CAMBODIA

Teaching English as a Foreign Language has long been a “back-packer” job with young travellers hopping from country to country to fund their travels. This seems to be something of the past. Schools are no longer interested in employing a foreign teacher just for the sake of having a foreigner on their school grounds. 47,3% of the teachers teaching in Cambodia have been in the Kingdom for more than 3 years. This could also have something to do with the pandemic and teachers not going home. However, it also tells us that Cambodia truly offers an amazing lifestyle for foreign teachers. It’s no longer just a 1 to 2 year teach abroad option; teachers settle down and create a new life for themselves in Cambodia.

SUBJECTS TAUGHT

Even though English Second Language as a subject is still ranking the highest with 66,2%, many teachers, especially those with qualifications in other fields, teach other subjects like Mathematics and Science ranking at 35%. These subjects are taught in English. Homeroom teachers, i.e. those with their own classrooms with the same group of students are still hand-in-hand with ESL teaching as the top subjects being taught by foreign teachers in Cambodia. Homeroom teachers would generally be at the primary school level, with teachers branching into specific subjects from high school when students move from teacher to teacher.

 LENGTH OF TEACHING

As mentioned above, young professionals are making a change in their lives. They choose a career where they can make a difference. 68,9% of teachers have been teaching for longer than 3 years.  We’re sure that they will continue teaching for many years to come.

SYLLABUS AND CURRICULUMS IN CAMBODIA

In general, most schools will have a set curriculum that they follow. In Cambodia, you’ll find American International Schools, British International Schools, Canadian International Schools, and so forth. All of these schools will generally follow the curriculum and syllabus of the said country. This makes lesson planning and preparation much easier. However, some schools do not yet have a General English Programme (GEP). They rely on foreign teachers to help develop a curriculum and syllabus for their particular school.

 SALARY EXPECTATIONS

A teaching English abroad salary will vary based on a multitude of factors. Your qualifications, experience and the location you wish to teach. The average salary for a foreign teacher teaching in Cambodia is US$800 – US$2,500 per month.
You should consider the local cost of living. This means that an English teacher who earns US$800 a month in Krong Kampong Cham will enjoy the same standard of living as a teacher in Phnom Penh who earns US$1,500 a month. Why? While the teacher in Phnom Penh earns more, in absolute terms the cost of living is higher in Phnom Penh than it is in Krong Kampong Cham. 70% of all foreign teachers earn more than US$1000.00 per month.  The biggest average salary is between US$1200 and US$1500.00 per month.

VISA AND WORK PERMITS

Schools are no longer interested in employing those ‘back-packer’ teachers. They are looking for teachers who will commit to a minimum 12-month contract by offering a contract completion bonus. The completion bonus will be paying for your yearly visa and work permits. This adds up to approximately US$500.00 per year.

If you would like to get more information about teaching English in Cambodia, please send us a message and well get in touch with you as soon as possible.

We understand that this might be big life decision.  Before you jump in, let’s have a chat to get to know you a bit better to help you find the correct TEFL programme for you. We have years experience and will be able to offer you some guidance to make the best decision. Click on the below image to schedule a one-on-one video call with our team in Cambodia.

Destination TEFL / TESOL is an English Second Language (ESL) teacher training provider. Our Terms and Conditions will apply to all our applicants and all applications will be subject to approval by our dedicated team.