Tefl ( Acels V Relsa )

gollem_1975

I am about to start a course that will result in gaining the ACELS certification ( marino cdvec ).

I spoke to someone in the industry and they gave me some pointers which has made me doubt the decision to do this course .. I met this person through a friend of a friend so I don't trust this source 100%

here are a list of what I was told

1) that a RELSA certified course is the best course for someone who wants to teach english in Ireland or some of the other European countries.

2) the required hours for the course was about to be set at 120 hours.
( some of the courses vary between 70 and 100 hours in duration at present)

3) for a school to recognise your qualification you need to have at least 25% of the course as practical experience of teaching in front of a class.

4) that the Irish government was tightening up regulations in relation to certification and the industry in general and that RELSA was the standard that was more in favour.

does anyone know if there is any truth in ANY of these statements.

thanks,

C.

red van man

'Fraid you've been mis-informed mate. Call into your school and they'll give you the low-down, but the gist of it is:
RELSA is the organisation of English language schools in Ireland, of which Marino and all the other schools are members, and they provided certification of teachers, up until last year. However, the govt. weren't happy that English schools were regulating themselves, and decided to regulate the schools under the auspices of the Dept. of Education and Science. The regulatory body they created is called ACELS, and now the language schools answer to it. Basically, the "RELSA" tefl course is no more, it's now the "ACELS" course. In reality, it'll be much the same course as before, although the entry requirements are a little stiffer.
You can see the official requirements here: http://www.acels.ie/docs/Initial%20TEFLQualificationAwards-KeyStandards&Guidelines.doc, the bottom line is that the course must be at least 115 hours, including four hours of teaching practice.

livido

another government quango. aren't FAS feeding the saturation too. and not a union in sight