Warning to BKC Moscow Teachers - Flat Inspections

Accommodation will now be sending inspectors who will take pictures of your flat.

From BKC Moscow Weekly News

Dear teachers,

To address landlords' concern about state of accommodation we are planning to hold regular flat inspections. I will be contacting each of you to arrange time and date convenient for everyone. In case flats are not kept clean and tidy we will be sending a cleaner once a month and expences will be covered by teachers occupating those flats. Please be aware that we may need to take a picture of the apartment during the inspection. 

If you have any questions, please contact me at flats@bkc.ru

Respectfully yours,

Anna, the accommodation coordinator.

The BKC Dollar - Money, Money, Money, Money!

When you signed your contract, it was quoted in U.S. dollars. If you're a contract teacher, the pay was somewhere around $1000 USD per month. Official rates for the 2009/2010 school year were $1040-$1190.

When you signed your contract, you thought to yourself, Wow, good. Because I heard the ruble fluctuates.

The ruble does fluctuate. Big time.

Hold your enthusiasm, though.

Read the fine print. You are not paid according to what the ruble is worth at the time of calculation.

Read your contract again. And read the Weekly News. We know it's boring stupid. But read it anyway.

The exchange rate used when calculating salary is based on the Russian Central Bank’s official rate + 1% but within the range of minimum and maximum internal exchange rates set by the company (presently 24 and 30 roubles for 1 USD).

So that means you will be paid whatever the hell BKC Moscow feels like paying you!

A Message From an Angry BKC Teacher (Originally Posted on the Teacher's Forum)


It was the good old time, about one year ago - maybe less - when the "crisis" just begun. The Big Boss came to us with an even bigger smile to explain that, whatever will happen, the school will do everything for the teachers, that teachers are the most important (thing?) in the school.

BKC does the best for its teachers. I trust.

That's why I could understand, that from january up to september I've been paid 30 rubles for 1 USD, when the rate was over 30. I mean, it was fair : students pay in rubles, they don't pay more when the currency is going down... I calculated, that from january to may, the average for the ruble/USD rate was around 33 (a bit more). We were paid 30. A teacher with a salary of 1000 USD was paid 30,000 rubles a month instead of 33,000 rubles.

During 5 months the school didn't pay him 15,000 rubles he should have got.

But as I said, we can understand that.

What I don't understand is BKC's decision, since the rate felt under 30, to pay us again on the basis of the official rate. The teacher with his 1000 USD salary "lost" at least 15,000 rubles this winter-spring, and more up to october. Now that the situation is getting easier, he is still losing money. As if the school wants to save its money, no matter what the situation is.

I was really disappointed when I looked at my pay slip this week. Couldn't they wait a little bit? We were paid less this winter, because the students didn't pay more. Maybe we could be paid a bit more, now that students don't pay less... It would be fair to maintain the rate for some time. Or to rise up the salaries. Just to show us, that we are really important.

We don't work better or worse when we are paid more or less. But I think that nobody wants to see the soviet workers joke become true. (The State does as if it is paying us. We do as if we are working).

Response to Angry BKC Teacher


At least you are getting a pay-slip! Don't you realise what a monumental shift this is for the incompetent accountancy staff.

But in answer to your question - they don't care if you live or die.

Fully agree with the sentiment in your post, though. But it's wasted on them.

Ever Wonder What BKC Stands For?

This post comes courtesy of a BKC teacher from the BKC Moscow Teacher's Forum


Ever wondered what BKC stands for?

Look at the naive souls wandering about, lost and helpless. And young. So, so young. Clueless about teaching, living abroad, even just working. And look at the organisation that lured them over here, with promises promises. "Hello. little girl, would you like some candy? Or see my puppies?" You gotta admit, it is one slick operation. That's why, BKC is better known in IH World circles as the Baby Kidnapping Crew.

Welcome to white slavery.

A Message to the Fresh Meat - BKC Moscow Hires From Fall of 2009

This comes courtesy of a long term BKC Moscow teacher. Originally posted on the BKC-IH Moscow Teacher's Forum.

Welcome.

You have just started at BKC. You are just settling into life in Moscow and IH. You are not sure how anything works, probably don't speak the local language. Or maybe you do. You are still finding your feet in the classroom. More than likely, you are a new, raw, teacher with little real experience and the 'induction' process has done little to reassure you that you can pass muster. Don't worry. That's how BKC likes it. It is just like last year, and the years before. Fresh meat to be feed through the murder-machine. The more innocent, the better. It doesn't matter how much of a mess you make, you are easily replaced, and quite cheaply too. Much cheaper than employing an experienced teacher. Much more malleable too, less likely to know your rights, much less demand them. Just a commodity. Branded Cattle.

So good luck to you. I hope you make it to the end of your contract. A lot of you probably won't. Or won't want to. There is no shame in that. There were many thousands before just like you, who were sold the dream, only to see it slowly descend into the nightmare that is working for BKC. Thousands like you, who eventually quit in dark, weeping despair.

Those of you who do somehow complete a contract may end up as ADOSes yourselves, 'inducting' 2010's fresh meat. But, then the real torment that is ADOShood awaits you. 

Few heed the warning. 

Fewer survive.

BKC-IH Moscow Teacher's Forum

The Flatmate You are Given by BKC-IH Moscow

New teachers quite often fill out a short form that asks preferences of the following types of lifestyle choices:

Are you a smoker?

Do you drink? Occasionally or frequently?

What is your level of cleanliness?

The Flatmate BKC Moscow Gives You May Be the Opposite of You

Current teachers have a theory that BKC Moscow takes those forms you filled out and simply tosses them in the bin. There is no other logical reason, since here are the facts:

• Smokers and non-smokers are frequently paired together in the same flat.
• Although cleanliness is subjective, there are some teachers who are cleaners, paired up with teachers who are filthy slobs.
• Teachers who simply work and study are paired with very young teachers who spend the majority of their time and money on liquor - and throw the necessary late-night loud parties that accompany this.

What to Do If Your BKC Moscow Flatmate Is Crazy?

Some more true stories from the field of BKC Moscow's World of Disgusting Flatmates:

• In 2009, a teacher attacked his flat mate with a knife, because his flat mate had an annoying habit of bringing home prostitutes and causing a lot of late-night noise.

• A female teacher in her 30s recently remarked that her 20-ish flatmate dirtied every dish in the kitchen and refused to wash them. The flatmate also soiled the toilet and refused to scrub her own shit stains from the toilet bowl.

• There are occasional stories of flat mates sneaking into the other's room to use personal computers, read diaries and snoop around.

• A male in his mid-twenties told a group of teachers that his 30-ish flat mate's room actually smelled, and the smell permeated throughout the flat. This person also had a tendency of leaving shit-stained underwear in the shower room, as well as leaving moldy plates and food inside his room.

• A female teacher reported, with horror, that her flatmate had not only snuck into her room to use her computer, but also left trash and dirty dishes behind.

• A male in his late twenties invited his long-time girlfriend to Moscow for a weekend. The girlfriend mopped the floors (in addition to cleaning the whole flat), and asked her boyfriend's flatmate to refrain from walking on the floors for a bit. The flatmate off-handedly remarked that she was a "bitch." The boyfriend was not happy about this at all.

• A brand-new teacher, who had been in Moscow for just a couple of months, was saddened when his flatmate did not invite him to a dinner party. The problem is that the dinner party was in their shared flat. The new teacher hid in his room until finally making a getaway to meet other new teachers at a club.

• One infamous woman, who has been with BKC Moscow for about 4 years, boasts that she has managed to make every single one of her flatmates leave. This older woman greets her new flatmates by immediately telling them, "You and I are not going to be friends." Then she shows the new flatmate around the flat, explaining, "This is mine, and you are not to touch it." She then begins cleaning and throwing things around between 3 am and 5 am. She knocks loudly on the new flatmate's door, and screams at them for not cleaning enough. She locks her roommates out of the apartment. Multiple female teachers have gone to BKC Moscow administration to ask for help. These teachers are told to move to another flat. The problem here is that in most cases, these teachers are forced to move further away from the schools they work at. The old, crazy lady? She is friends with the accommodation manager, and so suffers no punishment at all. Just a slap on the wrist and a "tsk, tsk." BKC Moscow doesn't care whether or not you leave because of this crazy person.

But we shall discuss BKC Moscow management and administration at a later point.

The BKC Moscow Contract You Signed

Before you got to Moscow, you signed a bunch of papers. You may not have actually read through all the paperwork because, let's face it - it was a lot. That's OK. Everything you signed is worthless.

BKC Moscow tears up contracts on a regular basis. So, don't worry about it.

Probably you signed a contract that stated an end date 9 months from when the contract date started.

When you got to Moscow, you may have been surprised that you were asked to sign yet another contract. This one extended your end date by anywhere from 10 days to two weeks. Maybe more.

Oh dear.

This is maybe the first thing that makes you think, "Huh."

There is more to come.

The Secret Lives of BKC-IH Moscow Teachers

Are you thinking about moving to Russia to start or continue your career as a TEFL instructor? Are you considering applying to BKC-IH Moscow? Are you a current or former BKC-IH Moscow employee?

This blog is intended to give up-to-date advice for teachers, former teachers and prospective teachers of BKC-IH Moscow.

If you are a new or prospective teacher, you have read all the horror stories of BKC Moscow on Dave's ESLCafe.com. You have read from disgruntled ex-workers who claim the contract BKC offers is not exactly in the teacher's favor.

You have done internet searches for BKC-IH Moscow, and since they have the International House brand name attached to them, they appear to be legitimate. You look at the nice site they have up, geared toward promoting their brand and recruiting native English speakers as teachers.

As a prospective teacher for this school, you may not know what to believe.

This blog serves two purposes: to answer questions from TEFL teachers thinking about choosing BKC Moscow as their next employee.

It also serves as an open, anonymous forum for current and former employees.

If you are a current or former BKC teacher, you know the true stories. We want to hear from you.

If you have any questions about BKC Moscow, and you want to know the truth, you've come to the right place.